The leader of Japan's largest opposition party stepped down on Monday after losing his seat in a weekend election.

Banri Kaieda, who led the Democratic Party of Japan to its third consecutive defeat at the polls, was among the casualties on a dreary night for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's main opponents.

Abe's ruling coalition waltzed home with 326 seats - a two-thirds majority - while the DPJ managed 73, just 11 up from last time and a long way off the numbers that gave the party control of the house between 2009 and 2012.

"I decided to resign as the DPJ leader when it was confirmed I lost my seat before dawn today," Kaieda said at a news conference.

"During an across-the-nation campaign, I heard voices of people who said 'Please stop the Abe government', but our tally of seats is not enough," he said.

While Abe billed the vote as a referendum on his economic management, where policies have sent the yen plunging and the stock market soaring, most commentators agree the unpopularity of his opponents was a big factor in his victory.

The DPJ, elected in 2009 on a wave of optimism after more than half a century of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party, governed until 2012.

"I heard voters saying, It's been only two years, we remember what happened two years ago." Kaieda said, when asked about the reason for the party's rout.

While Abe's approval ratings remain solid at around 40 percent, there is disquiet over many of his policies, including his desire to restart nuclear reactors idled after the Fukushima disaster, and his habit of playing down Japanese war crimes.

The DPJ's signal failure to capitalize on these and other issues - which barely figured in the campaign - will be the cause of some soul-searching. "We deeply apologize to our supporters," the DPJ said in a statement.

"The DPJ is still on its way to restoration and we will face a long uphill battle before receiving the people's mandate. But we pledge we will come back in the next battle as a party that will be able to take a role in a two-party system."

AFP

(China Daily 12/16/2014 page11)