Revisions to gross domestic product data show the economy contracted 0.6 percent in real terms in the July-September quarter, rather than growing 0.2 percent as reported earlier, the government said Thursday.
The announcement renewed fears that Japan's economy is losing steam and raised doubts over whether the government will be able to achieve its target of 1.2 percent growth for fiscal 2000 through March 31.
The contraction primarily stems from a downward revision of corporate capital investment, which grew only 1.5 percent rather than the 7.8 percent initially reported.