Two opposition parties launched less than a month ago to challenge Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party met contrasting fates in Sunday's general election.
Yukio Edano's Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) appeared on track to become the nation's largest opposition party, exit polls showed, while Kibo no To (Party of Hope), led by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, braced for a painful change in fortunes as it looked to settle for third place despite a strong start in the campaign.
A loud cheer went up at 8 p.m. at the Tokyo hotel where the CDP set up camp when the first exit polls came in. NHK projected the party could be looking at 44 to 67 seats, a significant leap from the 15 it held prior to the race. That was also more than the 38 to 59 seats projected for Kibo no To.