The Liberal Democratic Party's victories in two Lower House by-elections Sunday -- one in the Kanagawa Prefecture No. 16 district and the other in the Osaka Prefecture No. 9 district -- will boost Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's position in the ruling camp. The electoral victories will give him confidence in pushing his political agenda, including a revision of the Fundamental Law of Education, which is designed to instill patriotism in children and strengthen state control over education.

In contrast, the poll results must have disappointed Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan, the No. 1 opposition party, who hoped that victories in the elections would give an impetus to his party in its long-term efforts toward winning the Upper House election next July.

Several factors worked in favor of the LDP. The DPJ had planned to assail Mr. Abe for his perception of Japan's modern wars. But before the election, Mr. Abe moderated his position by making clear to the Chinese and South Korean leaders that he will endorse the Aug. 15, 1995, statement by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, in which the government officially apologized to people of Asian nations for the damage and pain inflicted by Japan' colonial rule and aggression in the 1930s and '40s.