Sunday's Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election was like a rerun of the decisive Lower House poll that returned the Liberal Democratic Party to power in December.

The landslide victory by the local-level candidates will give the LDP-New Komeito ruling bloc plenty of momentum in the run-up to the July Upper House election, where it hopes to re-establish control over the chamber.

Its chances are good. The opposition has been practically invisible and the rising number of Japanese swing voters will be challenged to find a viable alternative to the LDP.