Prime Minister Shinzo Abe strengthened his grip on power Sunday with his ruling coalition winning a comfortable majority in the Upper House election, enabling him to pursue his goal of economic recovery amid greater political stability.
Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its smaller partner, New Komeito, ended years of opposition control of the House of Councilors by gaining 76 of the 121 seats up for grabs.
The parties now have a total of 135 seats in the 242-seat chamber, including the 59 they already held that were not contested this time — well above the threshold of 129 necessary to control all standing committees in the chamber. The result will facilitate the passage of bills as the ruling bloc has an overwhelming majority in the more powerful Lower House.