Retail¹ sales in Japan have risen for the first time since the earthquake and tsunami² hit the country in March.

日本三月份地震和海啸发生后，商品零售额首次上涨。

According to the latest official data, retail sales rose 1.1% in June from a year earlier, indicating that the economy is beginning to recover.

The rise comes after three successive months of decline in sales as consumers stayed away from shops in wake of the devastation³（毁坏） caused.

Compared with the previous month, retail sales rose by 2.9%.

Analysts⁴ said the data indicated that things were starting to return to normal in Japan.

"You should expect a bounce back（反弹） to where things were before the earthquake and tsunami struck," said Richard Jerram of Bank of Singapore.

Growing confidence

The 11 March earthquake and tsunami caused widespread devastation in Japan.

The country's supply chain was disrupted, resulting in some of the biggest factories suspending or curbing⁵ production.

While that had a significant impact on the Japanese economy, analysts said the rapid pace of recovery has boosted morale⁶（士气，斗志） .

"I think the actual restarting of production has happened faster than people expected," said Mr Jerram.

Martin Schulz of Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo added that the return of Japanese factories to near-full capacity has played a key role in getting consumers back to the shops.

"We are seeing that production is picking up and that is feeding through to consumer sentiment（感情） ," he said.

He explained that as output in Japanese factories return to normal, people are feeling more secure about their jobs and hence are more willing to spend.

"Consumer levels had been depressed⁷ after the quake, but it is rebounding⁸ back. People are overcoming their concerns," he added.