Tadashi Hirono of the Democratic Party of Japan and Yoshifu Arita of New Party Nippon became certified members of the House of Councilors on Saturday, replacing two others who have decided to run in the House of Representatives election on Aug. 30.
Hirono, 66, is a former Councilor. He was listed behind Ai Aoki in the DPJ's proportional representation list in the 2007 Upper House election.
Arita, a 57-year-old journalist, was listed behind Yasuo Tanaka in New Party Nippon's lineup.
Aoki and Tanaka automatically forfeited their Upper House seats by filing for the Lower House election.
The terms for Hirono and Arita will last until July 28, 2013. Arita, however, faces a different problem: He's already filed his candidacy for the Lower House election and will have to decide by Aug. 28 whether to keep his new Upper House seat or run in the general election.