Its leader is a former supermarket manager who created his political party on YouTube in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic and campaigned on the Trumpian message “Japanese First.”

Japan's upper house election on Sunday dealt a big blow to the ruling coalition and sets markets up for possible policy paralysis and a bigger fiscal deficit, much of which is already priced in, analysts said.

The loss on Sunday left the Liberal Democrats a minority party in both houses of Parliament, while two new nationalist parties surged.