JAPANESE BARGAIN-HUNTERS CROWD IN LONG QUEUES IN TOKYO, 1999-01-28 (photo)

Japanese bargain hunters crowd in long queues up to a cash register January 28 during a clearance sale in a Tokyo department store which is to close down in four days due to unprofitability. Japan's retail sales fell 4.7 percent in December from a year earlier, while overall wholesale and retail sales fell 5.2 percent, Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry said on Thursday. Although industrial output rose unexpectedly in December, overall output data for 1998 showed the first fall in five years and the largest slide in 23 years. TA/JIR