Overall consumer prices in Japan were up 2.7 percent on year in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.
That was in line with expectations and down from 3.1 percent in July.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, inflation was up 0.1 percent for the second straight month.
Core CPI, which excludes the volatile costs of food, also rose an annual 2.7 percent - again matching forecasts and slowing from 3.1 percent in the previous month.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, core CPI was up 0.2 percent for the second consecutive month.