Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 25, 2021. (Mainichi/Kan Takeuchi)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday he solemnly accepts the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's loss in one of two by-elections held ahead of the general election this weekend.

       The defeat Sunday in Shizuoka Prefecture dealt a blow to Kishida, the LDP leader whose Cabinet approval rate is relatively low for a newly launched Cabinet. The LDP won in Yamaguchi Prefecture, a conservative stronghold.

       "We won people's confidence in Yamaguchi, but saw a disappointing result in Shizuoka. I would like to solemnly accept the judgment of people in (Shizuoka) prefecture," Kishida told reporters in the morning.

       "This is the result of an accumulation of various factors. We will thoroughly analyze them, brace ourselves and continue our efforts toward the House of Representatives election," he said.

       The by-elections for vacant seats in the upper chamber of parliament were the first national contests since Kishida took office on Oct. 4, replacing his unpopular predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, and were closely watched as a bellwether for the general election.

       Kenji Eda, acting leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, attributed swing voters' support for the win in Shizuoka by Shinnosuke Yamazaki, an independent the CDPJ backed with another opposition party, in a close race against Yohei Wakabayashi of the LDP.

       "This will give us a boost going into the lower house election. Prime Minister Kishida will not be the face of the election," Eda said.

       Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, released a statement Sunday evening saying the win by the opposition-backed candidate in Shizuoka gives courage to candidates backed by opposition parties ahead of the general election.

       The other race in Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan was won by former parliamentary vice industry minister Tsuneo Kitamura, who defeated the Japanese Communist Party's Kiyo Kawai, a former prefectural assembly member, and Shota Harada, more widely known as YouTuber Hezumaryu.

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