Japan's national consumer price index (CPI) declined 0.4% in June from a year earlier, following a similar decline in May, the Statistics Bureau said in a report on Friday. It was the fourth consecutive month this so-called core inflation rate had contracted.

Core inflation, which strips away both food and energy, declined 0.5% in the 12 months through June following a 0.4% drop the prior month.

Core CPI inflation in Tokyo, the country's capital and largest city, declined ­­0.4% in July from a year earlier following an annualized decline of 0.5% the month before.