Crude oil imports in November fell 12.2 percent from a year earlier to 115.42 million barrels for the second straight monthly contraction, the energy agency said Friday.
Imports from the Middle East accounted for 86.9 percent of the total, up 2.6 percentage points from a year before for the first expansion in three months, the Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report.
Saudi Arabia was the largest oil exporter to Japan, supplying 33.97 million barrels, down 15.8 percent, followed by the United Arab Emirates' 25.73 million barrels, up 5.9 percent.
Imports from Qatar, the third-largest exporter to Japan, increased 10.4 percent to 13.96 million barrels.
Iran was fourth on the list with exports of 12.77 million barrels, a drop of 34.2 percent.