TOKYO -- Japanese companies that once shifted production overseas are increasingly bringing it back home as labor costs rise in Asia and the yen has weakened over time, resulting in falling Japan-tied sales at their subsidiaries abroad.

These subsidiaries recorded $23.2 billion in sales from products bound for Japan in the April-June quarter, dropping 13% from their peak in January-March 2012 and accounting for 8.9% of these units' overall sales, the lowest level in nearly 13 years. The data, seasonally adjusted, is based on a quarterly survey compiled by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on overseas subsidiaries of Japanese corporations.

Japanese companies used to move production overseas to take advantage of cheap labor elsewhere in Asia, shipping products to Japan from subsidiaries abroad. More than 40% of these reverse imports come from Chinese units, which saw Japan-tied sales sink to $10.1 billion in the April-June quarter, the lowest in nearly six years.

(Nikkei)