Surprise Increase in Jewelry Sales at Japan’s Department Stores

Department store sales fell 2.1 percent from a year earlier in May to 491.2 billion yen ($5.34 billion). On a somewhat encouraging note, the pace of year-on-year declines slowed compared to April as consumer sentiment improved due to recovering corporate profits, the Association said on Monday.

The Association did not provide a figure on the improvement of jewelry sales, saying that sales of summer clothing, jewelry and imported goods increased in the wake of fine weather during the Golden Week holidays in addition to the recovering corporate profits.

The category that includes jewelry - Precious Art and Jewelry - declined 0.7 percent.

Japan’s imports of polished diamonds have been declining for a number of years, as the country’s consumers, lost their taste for diamond jewelry, among other reasons.