OBUCHI IS ESCORTED AROUND A CLOTHING RETAILER IN TOKYO, 1998-09-12 (photo)

Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi (C) is escorted around a clothing retailer in a Tokyo shopping arcade during an inspection tour of small and medium-sized businesses September 12 for first-hand information on the current business and economic situation. Japan's gross national product fell in April-June for the third consecutive quarter, the government said on Friday, below economists' gloomy forecasts. Lower consumption, which accounts for about 60 percent of GDP, with battered capital spending and domestic demand on the back of deterioration in consumer and business sentiment were behind the contraction, economists said. ES/TAN/KM