Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that he will "humbly accept" the results of Sunday's House of Councillors by-elections.
"I humbly accept the voters' judgment in those prefectures," Kishida said to reporters in Tokyo, referring to the Liberal Democratic Party's one loss and one win.
"I want to express my sincere gratitude to the people of Yamaguchi Prefecture for placing their confidence in us," Kishida said after an LDP-backed candidate won there.
In Shizuoka Prefecture, however, the LDP-backed candidate was defeated. Kishida said this was "a disappointing result" and attributed it to "the culmination of various factors."
With the House of Representatives election set to take place within a week, the prime minister expressed his intention to rework campaign measures. "We'll prepare to tackle the lower house election, which is a race to choose a government, and continue to make efforts," Kishida said.
A candidate endorsed by two opposition parties won in Sunday's race in Shizuoka Prefecture, giving the opposition side increased momentum ahead of the upcoming election.
"It's been proved now that together the opposition parties can create a strong force," said Tetsuro Fukuyama, secretary general of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
"It's significant that we won in a close race amid what resembled a one-on-one framework between the ruling and opposition blocs," said Jun Azumi, the CDPJ's Diet affairs chief.
Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki said: "The buoyant mood of the newly formed Kishida administration is declining steadily. We want to maintain this momentum through the lower house election."
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