The vote came two days after the country’s longest-serving prime minister was killed by a lone gunman while giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. Analysts initially expected voter turnout to be at a record low. However, forecasts by state broadcaster NHK suggested more people voted than in the 2019 election, after political parties united to condemn Abe’s firing as a “challenge to democracy”. The campaign was run on the cost-of-living crisis and security issues linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, not constitutional reform. But the strong result gives Kishida, known for his moderate views, an opportunity to revise Article 9, which stipulates that land, sea and air forces “shall never be maintained”. This has been a lifelong ambition for the hawkish Abe. “In order to have public understanding, we would like to focus on deepening the constitutional debate in the Diet so that we can put forward concrete proposals [for revision]Kishida said as the results came in from the exit polls. Half of the seats in Japan’s less powerful Upper House are elected every three years through a mix of constituency voting and proportional representation. People walk past election posters for Japan’s upper house election in Tokyo on Sunday. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to make gains © Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images As of midnight local time, NHK exit polls suggested the LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, had won 73 of the 125 seats. Adding to the seats won by two other parties that support constitutional reform, the ruling coalition gathered the two-thirds majority needed to revise the constitution, which was written by the US occupation forces after World War II. The LDP, Komeito, Nippon Ishin, a right-wing populist party, and the Democratic People’s Party already hold a two-thirds majority in Japan’s lower house. In addition to this threshold in both houses of parliament, constitutional revision requires a majority of public support in a national referendum. The hurdles for a review remain high. In a poll conducted by NHK before the election, 37 percent of respondents said the constitution should be revised, while 23 percent were against the revision. Pro-reform parties are also divided on which part of the constitution should be amended. The victory also gives Kishida a freer hand to shape his policy and appoint people close to him to powerful positions. Analysts said, however, that the loss of Abe, the nation’s most polarizing and powerful leader in decades, could shake the balance of power within the LDP. “The impact of Abe’s death on Japanese politics will be enormous,” said Mieko Nakabayashi, a professor at Waseda University. “The party could be fragmented without a face [like Abe] to keep it together.” Katsuyuki Isobe, a 50-year-old LDP supporter in the Hashiba neighborhood in northern Tokyo, said he felt an even stronger “sense of conviction” to vote for the party after Abe’s death. “Abe was an outstanding, charismatic leader with a great ability to bring people together,” Isobe said. “It is a huge loss for Japan and for the LDP that he is no longer with us. I am worried whether the LDP can manage without such a strong personality.” Crowds gathered over the weekend to lay flowers and pray at a makeshift memorial near the site of the attack. A family funeral is expected to be held on Tuesday with a joint memorial service by the LDP and the government later, according to an official in Abe’s office. Investigators are focusing on the motive of Abe’s suspected attacker — 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami — who told police he held a grudge against a “specific group” he believed Abe had a close relationship with.

Yamagami, a former member of Japan’s Naval Self-Defense Force, reportedly said his mother had made large financial donations to the group, upsetting their household. The statements suggest the killing was the act of a lone gunman rather than ideologically or politically motivated. Police did not name the group in question, but a person familiar with the investigation said the mother was affiliated with a local branch of the Unification Church, often known as the Moonies. In a statement released Saturday, the Unification Church condemned the shootings. “Guns have no place in our religious beliefs or practices,” it said. The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Additional reports from Nobuko Juji in Chiba and Eri Sugiura in Hokkaido