Candies are a national obsession, with expensive Swiss roll cakes, rusks and $10-a-piece chocolates considered little luxuries that are too hard to give up for most people.

"Instead of going to cafes or dining out, people are spending more time at home," said Takashi Iida, who manages the sweets section at Matsuya department store in Tokyo's upscale Ginza shopping district.

"Sweets are one way of making time at home more enjoyable."

Consumer spending on most items has plummeted as Japanese grapple with their worst recession since World War Two.

Department store data shows sales of women's clothing declined for the 19th straight month in January and overall sales fell for 11 months running.

But sales of sweets have risen for 25 months in a row.

Kayoko Shibata, spokeswoman at Mitsukoshi department store in Ginza, said shoppers often line up for 30 minutes to buy a 1,200 yen ($12) Swiss roll.

"There is a line all the time, even on weekdays," she said. "Almost everyday, the shop runs out of stock in late afternoon," she added.

At Gateau Festa Harada, one of the most popular sweets shops in Matsuya, 42-year-old homemaker Masayo Horita lined up to buy five bags of rusks, after also checking out the sweet section of a rival department store.

"These are for my friends as well as my family," she said.