Department store sales in Tokyo rose 1.2 pct in July from a year earlier, the first rise in three months, the Japan Department Stores Association said. This is due mainly to brisk sales of clothing, the association said. Tokyo area department store sales totaled 184.6 bln yen last month, it said. The report covers 27 department stores operated by 13 companies. In July, sales rose in four of the eight product categories and fell in the other four, the department stores associations said. Sales of clothing, the largest product category accounting for 36.4 pct of total revenue, added 4.0 pct from a year earlier. Sales of personal belongings such as handbags, jewelry and accessories, the fifth-largest category accounting for 12.6 pct of total revenue, rose 6.3 pct. Revenue from services, a tiny category accounting for just 0.9 pct of total sales, rose 6.7 pct, and sales of miscellaneous items, another minor category accounting for 1.8 pct of total revenue, rose 4.7 pct. Among losers were sales of food, the second-largest catogory at 26.5 pct, down 0.1 pct, while sales of furniture and home appliances, the fourth-largest category fell 1.4 pct. Everyday household products, which account for 5.3 pct of the total sales, tumbled 12.3 pct.