Naoto Kan, Japan's prime minister, has apologised for his party's poor showing in Sunday's elections which seem set strip it of its slim majority in the upper house of parliament.

According to Japanese media reports, Kan's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won just 44 of the contested seats, well short of his stated goal of 54, while the DPJ's coalition partner the People's New Party got none.

Official results from the poll are due out later on Monday.

Al Jazeera's Divya Gopalan reports from Tokyo on the public reaction to the shifting political fortunes.

[July 12, 2010]