TOKYO - THE ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won two by-elections for Parliament's Upper House on Sunday, in a sign of voter approval in the first national polls since it took power last month.

Mr Yoichi Kaneko won the Kanagawa seat against his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rival, while Mr Hirokazu Tsuchida beat another LDP candidate in Shizuoka.

'I want to quickly become a politician who can help create a new future for this country,' Mr Kaneko told his supporters after his win.

'We received voters' backing for the Cabinet's efforts to promote reforms,' new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said in a statement.

But Mr Hatoyama's government faces tough challenges, including the inflation of already bulging public debt as it seeks to fund ambitious spending programmes, and friction in the United States-Japan alliance, long the pillar of Tokyo's diplomacy.

The DPJ ousted the long-dominant conservative LDP to usher in a government that promised to focus spending on consumers rather than companies, and steer a diplomatic course less subservient to Washington.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.