The Bank of Japan on Monday cut its assessment for three of the country's nine regions, the biggest number of downgrades in six years, suggesting that damage to exports and factory output from slowing overseas demand was broadening.
The BOJ lowered its views on Tohoku, Hokuriku and Kyushu-Okinawa, whose economies are relatively dependent on the electronics industry exporting a large number of semiconductor-related products to China.
But BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said the economy is expected to continue expanding moderately, with robust domestic demand offsetting some of the weaknesses in exports.