Japan's industrial production rose 4.2% year over year in June, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released on Friday.
The reading beat the Trading Economics forecast for a 1.8% growth. It follows a 2.1% drop in the previous month.
Shipments rose 2.7% year over year in June, while inventories shrank 2.7%.
On a month-over-month basis, factory output edged up 1.3% during the month, driven primarily by production machinery, electrical machinery, and information and communication electronics equipment, and general-purpose and business-oriented machinery.