Photo/Illutration A grim-faced Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after the Upper House election on July 20 (Takeshi Iwashita)

The ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba lost its majority in the Upper House election on July 20, putting it on further shaky political ground.

It marked the second major setback for the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito in less than a year. The coalition suffered a stunning defeat in the Lower House election held in October.

According to the tally finalized on July 21, the LDP and Komeito won 47 seats between them, short of the minimum 50 required for the coalition to maintain its majority in the 248-seat Diet chamber.

Ishiba had said the coalition’s “must-achieve goal” in the Upper House election was securing a majority, or 125 seats.

The goal was set low because the two allies, which together had 75 uncontested seats, were able to meet it by only winning 50 seats, 16 less than the total of their seats up for re-election.

The coalition took a drubbing due to voter distrust over the LDP’s money-in-politics scandal, the soaring cost of living and other issues.

The LDP gained 39 seats, down 13 from the number of its seats up for grabs this year. It was the third-lowest number of seats the party has won in an Upper House election.

Specifically, the LDP struggled in the 32 electoral districts where only one seat was contested--rural areas where the party had dominated since its return to power in 2012--and won only in 14 of them.

Komeito won eight seats, down six from the number of its seats up for re-election this year. It was the lowest number of seats the party has won in an Upper House election.

Komeito candidates lost seats in the Saitama, Kanagawa and Aichi constituencies, although the party had prioritized those prefectures.

Voter turnout was 58.51 percent for electoral districts, up from 52.05 percent in the previous Upper House election in 2022, the internal affairs ministry announced July 21.

It was the first turnout of more than 55 percent in an Upper House election since 57.92 percent in 2010.

A record 42 women won, up from 35 in 2022.

Despite the rout of the ruling coalition, many opposition parties failed to increase their strengths, except for the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito.

The DPP captured 17 seats, one more than its goal. With a total of 22 seats, including uncontested ones, the party can now submit a bill that requires a budget to the Diet by itself.

Sanseito, which advocates “Japanese First” policies, garnered 14 seats, more than the 11 seats required for the submission of a bill without a budget.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan managed to secure 22 seats, the same number as its seats contested this year.

The party lost in the multi-seat Fukuoka and Ibaraki constituencies, where candidates from the rising opposition party Sanseito grabbed seats.

Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) gained seven seats, one more than its goal.

The party maintained its two seats in the Osaka constituency, and a new face won in the Kyoto constituency.

But Nippon Ishin failed to widen its influence beyond its traditional stronghold in the Kansai region.

The Japanese Communist Party only secured three seats, down from seven up for re-election.

The Social Democratic Party won one seat in the proportional representation portion, garnering at least 2 percent of valid votes, which is required to maintain the status of a political party under the Public Offices Election Law.

The Conservative Party of Japan won two seats, its first in the Upper House.

Team Mirai, headed by artificial intelligence engineer Takahiro Anno, won its first Diet seat.

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