Sales rose 2.5% compared with a year earlier, the biggest rise since August 2010, said the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Food and clothing were among the items that led to the higher numbers.
However, for the whole of 2011, retail sales were down 1.2%.
The Bank of Japan and the country’s law makers have said the economy is in a slump as Europe’s debt crisis weighs on external demand.
Japanese exporters have also been hit by a strong yen which makes their products more expensive overseas.
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