[News Figures] 148 Seats for the Largest Opposition Party in 21 Years... Japan's Noda Yoshihiko

In the Japanese House of Representatives election held on the 27th, Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Japan's leading opposition party that made significant gains by increasing its seats to 148, expressed his intention for a regime change in an interview with a broadcaster, stating, "It is natural to aim for the prime minister nomination." The Constitutional Democratic Party increased its seats from 98 to 148 out of the total 465 seats in the House of Representatives election, including 104 constituency seats and 44 proportional representation seats. It is the first time in 21 years since the Democratic Party won 177 seats in 2003 that the leading opposition party secured more than 140 seats, which corresponds to 30% of the total seats. Noda, who became prime minister for the third time during the Democratic Party administration in 2012, handed over power to the Liberal Democratic Party after just one year and three months.

Noda Yoshihiko

Born in 1957 in Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture, as the son of a Self-Defense Forces officer, Noda graduated from Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics. He then entered the first class of Matsushita Seikeijuku, a prestigious political school in Japan founded by Konosuke Matsushita.

After graduating from Matsushita Seikeijuku, Noda reportedly worked for a time as a private tutor and a city gas meter reader. He entered politics in 1987 when he was elected to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly, serving two terms thereafter.

Noda built his political career within the Democratic Party. He was elected in the 2000 House of Representatives election from Chiba Prefecture's 4th district and was appointed the Democratic Party's General Affairs Director that same year. In 2001, he was appointed as the Minister in charge of Administrative and Regulatory Reform in the Democratic Party's shadow cabinet. Subsequently, Noda served as Minister of Finance and became the 95th Prime Minister of Japan in 2011.

Noda is classified as anti-Korean. During his tenure as prime minister, at a summit held in Kyoto in 2011, he showed differences with then-President Lee Myung-bak regarding the comfort women issue. When the former president demanded resolution of historical issues such as the comfort women, Noda requested the removal of the "Comfort Women Peace Statue (Girl Statue)" in front of the Japanese Embassy in South Korea. At that time, Noda consistently maintained a non-cooperative stance, stating, "It is a legally settled issue." Later, Lee visited Dokdo, which is said to have strengthened Noda's anti-Korean stance.