Sales at the nation's supermarkets and department stores fell in October from a year earlier for the eighth straight month on a same-store basis due to typhoons and rainy weather, according to industry data released Wednesday.

Supermarket sales dropped 4.1 percent to 1.19 trillion yen, the Japan Chain Stores Association said in a preliminary report covering 8,431 stores operated by 97 supermarket chains.

Department store sales shrank 3.5 percent to 650.79 billion yen, the Japan Department Stores Association said in a preliminary report covering 286 outlets run by 98 department store chains.

The chain stores association said overall sales in October declined due to sluggish clothing sales for fall that it said were affected by a series of typhoons and rainy weather.

The department store association cited bad weather, weak demand from corporate customers and brisk sales in the previous year as reasons for shrinking sales in the reporting month.

Among six major cities -- Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagoya and Yokohama -- department store sales fell 2.7 percent from a year earlier.

Sales in other cities also fell 4.5 percent. Both groupings posted an eighth straight month of decline.

But in Nagoya, sales rose 0.1 percent on year, the first rise in five months, spurred by bargain sales there as the Nagoya-based Chunichi Dragons clinched the Central League pennant.

By product, seasonal clothing sales were hit hardest by typhoons and relatively warm weather, with sales at supermarkets plunging 13.2 percent to 168.07 billion yen and sales at department stores falling 7.1 percent to 281.28 billion yen.