Japan's core consumer prices, excluding fresh food, rose 0.9% year over year in January before seasonal adjustment, unchanged from its pace in December 2017, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.

Less fresh food and energy items, prices rose 0.4% in January from the year-ago period, slightly up from the 0.3% annual rise in December 2017.

The consumer price index in January was up 1.4% over the year before seasonal adjustment, and up 0.4% from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The Bank of Japan aims to reach its 2% inflation target around the fiscal year starting in April 2019, a year later than a previous projection.