Japan's ruling party has missed out on a parliamentary majority for the first time since 2009, a result that strikes a blow to new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The snap poll was called in early October, following a party slush fund scandal that led to the resignation of Fumio Kishida and Ishiba's narrow election to the party's leadership.
Voters in the world's fourth-largest economy have been rankled by rising prices.