A day after the humiliating loss of his Diet seat in Sunday*s general election, Banri Kaieda officially announced his resignation as president of the Democratic Party of Japan, the biggest opposition force.

※I deeply regret the lack of my ability§ to retain a Lower House seat, Kaieda said during a news conference at DPJ headquarters in Tokyo. ※When I traveled across the country, I heard many appeals from the public asking us to stop the Abe administration from getting out of control. But we couldn*t win the (requisite) number (of seats).§

It is unprecedented for the head of a political party to lose a Diet seat in a national election, especially in view of the wide media exposure they get.