Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, immediately after fending off a censure vote submitted by the opposition in the Upper House, was hit with a no-confidence motion in the lower chamber Wednesday over his controversial remark that Japan is a "divine nation centered on the Emperor."
Mori is expected to ignore the no-confidence vote and dissolve the Lower House on Friday, paving the way for a general election on June 25.
The censure motion was voted down in the Upper House plenary session, by a 134-to-108 vote, because the ruling bloc — the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and New Conservative Party — voted against it. The opposition parties then submitted the no-confidence motion against the embattled prime minister to the Lower House.