Analysts credit a Japanese government travel campaign with a slight uptick in spending on services and entertainment in late September.

The assessment comes from data analysis firm Nowcast and credit card company JCB, which use a spending index to gauge consumption.

The companies say the index in the latter half of September was down 16.4 percent from the same two-week period in January. But that represents an improvement from the first half of September, when the index was down 17.3 percent from the equivalent period.

The pandemic has hit the travel, food and entertainment sectors particularly hard.

But the analysts say the government's "Go To Travel" campaign helped boost the industries during a four-day holiday in late September.

They also point to a decision by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to take a more relaxed approach to opening hours for pubs and bars.