BOOTED OUT
A big winner was former premier Yoshihiko Noda’s opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) which increased its projected seat tally to 148 from 96 at the last election.
Ishiba had promised to not actively support LDP politicians caught up in the funding scandal.
But the opposition jumped on media reports that the party has provided ¥20 million (US$132,000) each to district offices headed by these figures, who were still standing in the election.
“Voters chose which party would be the best fit to push for political reforms,” Noda said late on Sunday, adding that the “LDP-Komeito administration cannot continue”.
Mirroring elections elsewhere, fringe parties did well, with Reiwa Shinsengumi, founded by a former actor, tripling its seats to nine after promising to abolish sales tax and boost pensions.
The anti-immigration and traditionalist Conservative Party of Japan, established in 2023 by nationalist writer Naoki Hyakuta, won its first three seats.
The number of women lawmakers meanwhile reached a record high at 73, according to NHK, but still representing less than 16 per cent of the legislature.
“As long as our own lives don’t improve, I think everyone has given up on the idea that we can expect anything from politicians,” restaurant worker Masakazu Ikeuchi, 44, told AFP on Monday in rainy Tokyo.
“I think the outcome was a result of people across Japan wanting to change the current situation,” said fellow voter Takako Sasaki, 44.