Reuters/Toshiyuki Aizawa

GOOD DEALS: Japanese salespeople show gold-encrusted Buddhist altars at a million yen (US$8,570) "bargain" sale at Takashimaya department store in Tokyo. Hundred-yen shops are all the rage in deflation-hit Japan, but the upscale department store fought back on Monday with a different sort of campaign, offering an array of luxury goods tagged at a million yen each.