Its leader is a former supermarket manager who created his political party on YouTube in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic and campaigned on the Trumpian message “Japanese First.”

Japan's upper house election on Sunday dealt a big blow to the ruling coalition and sets markets up for possible policy paralysis and a bigger fiscal deficit, much of which is already priced in, analysts said.

Exit polls suggest Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition is likely to lose a majority its majority in the smaller of Japan’s two parliamentary houses in a key election.