Standard & Poor's lowered Japan's sovereign debt rating one notch
To A-plus from AA-minus
Moody's downgraded Japan in December of last year
Fitch downgraded in April of this year
S&P said weak economic growth made it less likely the Japanese government can reverse the economic decline quickly
- "Economic support for Japan's sovereign creditworthiness has continued to weaken in the past three to four years
- Despite showing initial promise, we believe that the government's economic revival strategy ... will not be able to reverse this deterioration in the next two to three years."