UPDATE 1-Japan's Iran crude imports fall 12.2 pct yr/yr in Jan

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* Jan imports up from December's 317,000 bpd (Adds details)

TOKYO Feb 27 (Reuters) - Japan's customs-cleared crude imports from Iran fell 12.2 percent in January from the same month a year ago, a much sharper decline than for overall imports, as Japan strives to avoid U.S. sanctions, Ministry of Finance data showed on Monday.

The cuts were much sharper than the fall of 2.1 percent in the nation's total crude imports last month. But crude imports from Iran were higher in January than December, as January and February tend to be the two peak months of imports in the winter season.

Crude imports from Iran in January totalled 1.70 million kilolitres (345,000 barrels per day), up nearly 30,000 bpd from December imports of 1.56 million kl (317,000 bpd). The December figure was down 14.7 percent from December 2010.

Crude imports by Japan, Iran's No.3 customer, totalled 92.07 billion yen ($1.14 billion) in January in value terms, up from 85.2 billion in December, the data showed.

($1 = 80.6850 Japanese yen) (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Clarence Fernandez)

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