Machinery orders received by major manufacturers operating in Japan from April through June in terms of value, excluding those of volatile orders, rose 8.1 percent from the previous quarter. It was the first increase in two periods.
The Cabinet Office released the data, which are key indicators of corporate investment in facilities and equipment.
It said private-sector machinery orders for this year's second quarter, excluding volatile ones for ships and those from electric power companies, stood at 2 trillion 789 billion yen, or about 20.8 billion dollars.
The growth appears to reflect companies' increasing momentum toward investment as various COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed or lifted.
The data showed that orders from the manufacturing sector from April through June rose 9.1 percent from the previous quarter. Increasing orders from steel manufacturers added to the rise.
Orders from the non-manufacturing sector also rose 7.6 percent from the previous quarter, thanks mainly to those from wholesalers and retailers.
Orders received in June rose 0.9 percent from the previous month for the first time in two months.
The Cabinet Office kept its assessment unchanged that there are signs of improvement in machinery orders.
But it forecasts that orders may fall by 1.8 percent in the July-September period from the previous quarter.
It cited the possible impact of the seventh coronavirus outbreak now hitting Japan and the prospects for the US and Chinese economies as negative factors.