Japan posted a current account surplus of 3.398 trillion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday - up 44 percent from the previous year.
That was shy of expectations for a surplus of 3.489 trillion yen but was up from 2.644 trillion yen in February.
Imports were down 3.8 percent on year to 8.879 trillion yen, while exports added an annual 6.5 percent to 9.370 trillion yen for a trade surplus of 491.0 billion yen.
The capital account saw a shortfall of 27.7 billion yen, while the financial account had a surplus of 2.478 trillion yen.