Kyo News Agency reported late Sunday that Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), headed by Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida, lost three key seats in House of Representatives by-elections held earlier Sunday.

This comes even as the LDP chose not to contest in the Nagasaki and Tokyo by-elections. But it lost Shimane, a long-time held LDP prefecture.

The leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, led by left-leaning lower house lawmaker Kenta Izumi since November 2021, acquired all three seats by obtaining support from anti-LDP voters.

LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi, its No. 2 personnel after Kishida, told reporters in Tokyo, "We will humbly accept the results" of Sunday's by-elections, adding that the party "needs to work as one to grapple with the challenge."

 Kishida's term as party president expires in September and the defeat is unlikely to work in his favor later this year.