Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic party on Sunday suffered a devastating defeat in upper house elections, but the Japanese prime minister vowed to fight on “to pursue reform and continue building a beautiful country”.

By 1.30am Sunday night, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan was heading for a landslide victory that would give it a simple majority in the 242-seat upper house, the less powerful of Japan’s two chambers. It is the first time that LDP, which was heading for fewer than 40 seats, has been beaten by a single opposition party since its formation in 1955.