Overall nationwide consumer prices in Japan were up 1.4 percent on year in January, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday, cited by rttnews.

That exceeded forecasts for 1.3 percent and was up from 1.0 percent in December.

Core CPI, which excludes food prices, advanced an annual 0.9 percent - above expectations for 0.8 percent and unchanged from the previous month.

On a monthly basis, overall inflation added 0.4 percent and core CPI gained 0.2 percent.