Japan's exports rose 43.5 percent in March from a year earlier, marking the fourth successive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said in a preliminary report on Thursday.

The value of exports in March totaled 6 trillion yen (64.52 billion U.S. dollars), the ministry said adding that exports to Asia, a mainstay for Japan accounting for more than 50 percent of total exports, rose 52.9 percent from a year earlier.

Imports to Japan rose 20.7 percent in March and were valued at 5.06 trillion yen (54.41 billion U.S. dollars).

A trade surplus of 948.9 billion yen (10.2 billion U.S. dollars) was registered for the same month.

For fiscal year 2009 through March 31, the balance came to a surplus of 5.23 trillion yen (56.24 billion U.S. dollars), the ministry said.