They also marked a rebound after the real GDP, which is adjusted for prices, shrank a revised annualized 11.7 percent in the January-March period, as well as a revised 13.1 percent fall in the October-December quarter, which registered the fastest ever contraction amid the global economic downturn.

In the April-June quarter, consumer spending, which makes up around 55 percent of Japan's GDP, increased a real 0.8 percent from the earlier three months. Meanwhile, corporate capital spending declined 4.3 percent. Housing investment fell 9.5 percent and public investment was up 8.1 percent on the government's fiscal stimulus packages to fight the recession.

This recovery was highly driven by robust demand for exports such as video recorders and other electronics goods, said Kingo Toyoda of the Cabinet Office. Shipments to China and other emerging markets were particularly strong. Exports grew 6.3 per cent from the previous quarter, the highest growth since the second quarter of 2002.

The rebound in the world’s second-largest economy came after a steep, yearlong contraction in gross domestic product, including a worst-ever drop in the final quarter of 2008, when the economy shrank at a 13.1 per cent pace.

The news from Japan comes amid signs that the global economy may be recovering from its slump. Last week, France and Germany, Europe’s two biggest economies, said they resumed growing in the second quarter, while Hong Kong also said it expanded after a yearlong recession.

Growth in the world's No.2 economy is likely to continue in coming quarters as companies restock inventories due to exports and government stimulus spending around the world, providing further evidence that the worst of the damage wrought by a global financial crisis may be over. (Breitbart)