The announcement Monday that the economy contracted for a second consecutive quarter raised the political pressure on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to delay the consumption tax hike planned for next October.
The negative economic data also provided ammunition for opposition lawmakers to bash the Abe administration, saying his "Abenomics" growth policies, which boosted stock prices, have failed to improve the overall outlook and people's standards of living.
"We didn't expect a good figure, but this is far worse than we had imagined," said Yukio Edano, secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition group.