Japan raised its sales tax to 8 percent in April from 5 percent.
Year-on-year, prices of fuel, light and water charges recorded the highest increase (6.9 percent), followed by furniture and household utensils (5.4 percent) and food (5 percent). Housing cost remained flat.
Core consumer prices rose 3.2 percent yoy in April, accelerating from a 1.3 percent increase in March. On a monthly basis, core CPI was up 2.2 percent and overall inflation gained 2.1 percent.
In the Tokyo region, core inflation rate rose by an annual 2.8 percent in May following the 2.7 percent increase in April, while overall consumer prices accelerated to 3.1 percent. On a monthly basis, Tokyo core and overall CPI increased 0.3 percent each.