OSAKA –

Osaka Ishin no Kai won two of the Osaka district's four seats and another in neighboring Hyogo Prefecture, as well as at least two proportional seats, inching Prime Minister Shinzo Abe closer to the two-thirds majority needed for a referendum on constitutional revision.

The party failed, however, to generate much interest outside the Osaka region.

"Over the course of the campaign, I've traveled from Hokkaido to Okinawa, and have found there's a lot of sympathy for the kinds of structural reforms we've achieved in Osaka," Osaka Ishin Secretary-General Nobuyuki Baba told a post-election briefing.

"Many people said Osaka's efforts were necessary in other localities as well as in the national government, and can serve as a model for reform and restructuring," he added.

"It was our first election without (Toru) Hashimoto, so there was concern," Baba said. "But people did understand that Osaka was a 'brand name' representing change."

The party remained mum Sunday night on how it might support the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in its efforts to amend the Constitution, specifically Article 9.

While Osaka Ishin has indicated support for changes, the party doesn't want to commit itself to the LDP just yet.

"It's too early to say what our position is, or whether we'll support or oppose a plan for constitutional revision," party leader and Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui told a press briefing Sunday night, before the final results were known.

"If the LDP has serious discussions after a two-thirds majority is achieved, we'll look at the proposal and hold talks," he added.

Matsui also emphasized that while Osaka Ishin would not oppose LDP proposals outright, and that his personal relations with the Abe administration were good, there was a difference between the personal and political relationships.

"Policy is different from personal relations, and our party will look carefully at individual policies and decide what our position is," he said.