March store sales for intl. visitors break record

Purchases by foreign tourists at department stores across Japan hit a record monthly high in March as millions of international travelers visited the country during the cherry blossom season.

The Japan Department Store Association says purchases of tax-free products by foreign visitors came to more than 29 billion yen, or roughly 269 million dollars, last month.

Especially popular were cosmetics and brand-name bags.

Overall sales at department stores in the reporting month stood at about 4.8 billion dollars. That’s up 0.1 percent from the same month last year and marks the first uptick in 4 months.

That’s because shoppers splurged on spring clothing.

Association officials say greater-than-expected numbers of foreign shoppers visited stores during the cherry-blossom viewing season.

They say they will try to spur consumption by international tourists in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to reverse the general falling trend in sales.