The head of Japan's main opposition Democratic Party, Mr Naoto Kan, has said the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party had won the public's mandate in today's election.
"It is proper to think that the ruling coalition, which has won a majority and possibly an absolute majority, at least in numbers in the election, has won the public's mandate," Mr Kan told reporters.
Exit polls released after voting booths closed showed the three-party ruling camp was likely to win between 250 and 278 seats, down from 287 previously, in the 480-seat Lower House of parliament.
The exit polls forecast that Mr Koizumi's conservative LDP would take between 214 and 241 seats, down from 247 before the election - the first since the Mr Koizumi took office in April 2001.