TOKYO, March 12 (Reuters) - Japan's government plans to issue climate transition bonds worth 350 billion yen ($2.37 billion) for the first time this month, aiming for four such issuances a year worth a total of 1.4 trillion yen, sources told Reuters.

The decision will be made later this month after consultations with market players known as primary dealers, they added.

In their first year of issuance in fiscal 2023, the government raised around 800 billion yen, each, for bonds with tenure of 10 years and 5 years, respectively.

However, the government aims to curb the issue size each issuance to make it easier to respond to investor demand, the sources said.

This initiative is at the core of Japan's "Green Transformation", or "GX" programme, which aims to mobilise 150 trillion yen over the next decade to help achieve the country's goal of achieving its 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets and carbon neutrality goal by 2050.

To achieve this end, the Ministry of Finance earmarked 1.4 trillion yen for GX bond issuance. The focus will be whether it could attract more investors, as 40% of past investment in GX bonds ended up in the Bank of Japan's holdings.

"As the world's first transition bonds to be issued by a country, we aim to make it a catalyst to help expand transition finance in and out of Japan and facilitate understanding towards Japan's GX policy as well as fund raising," Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, said ahead of the next fiscal year's issuance. ($1 = 147.4200 yen) (Writing by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Rashmi Aich)