The Bank of Japan downgraded its economic assessment of two of the country's nine regions on Thursday, citing damage caused by the Kyushu earthquakes in April and slowing personal consumption amid falling share prices.

The central bank downgraded its assessment of the Chugoku region and of the Kyushu and Okinawa region from three months earlier. But it retained its views on the other seven regions, saying they are either recovering or expanding moderately, though exports and output have been hurt by slowdowns in emerging economies including China.

In downgrading its assessment of Chugoku, an area of western Honshu including Hiroshima, the BOJ pointed to the effects of suspended minivehicle production at a Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plant in the area after the automaker admitted to manipulating fuel economy data.