Japanese bureaucrats complain that Moody's suits arrived at their doors every time the country had some trade friction with the United States or political strife. In May 1998, Moody's downgraded Japan's top-notch credit rating, citing incompetence in the country's political system and leadership. Japan's finance ministry hit the ceiling for using a political yardstick on economic analysis and refused to accept the review. The government threatened to evaluate Moody's. But the rating agency didn't blink. Atop its high horse, the agency warned in 2000 it would downgrade Japan's credit ratings again. Japan backtracked and its finance minister had to beg Moody's to reconsider. Japan, however, took retaliatory action by growing two rating agencies of its own, R&I and JCR. The government invested heavily in the two agencies, but only small Southeast Asian countries are their clients.