TOKYO -- Credit rating agencies have taken a dim view of many Japanese companies of late, with a global economic slowdown and a flurry of scandals perceived as eroding corporate finances and earning power.
Japan's Rating and Investment Information lowered ratings 11 times between the start of the year and Tuesday, up from 10 in the entire first half of 2015. The agency is on track for its busiest half-year of downgrades since it issued 17 in July-December 2013.
