The Democratic Party of Japan's rise to pre-eminence in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly may force Gov. Shintaro Ishihara to bend on some of his more controversial policies, notably the funding of troubled lender Shinginko Tokyo, according to observers.

Nobuyuki Ishihara, chief of the Liberal Democratic Party's Tokyo chapter, bows in front of reporters July 12 following the LDP's crushing defeat in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election. KYODO PHOTO

The Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, New Komeito, secured only 61 seats in the 127-seat assembly in the July 12 election, losing their majority, while the DPJ took 54 seats, up from 34 seats before the election.

"The DPJ will increase its level of confrontation with Ishihara," said Yasushi Aoyama, a former vice governor under Ishihara and now a Meiji University professor. "There will be many moments of confusion and Ishihara's relationship with the assembly will be very difficult."

Many of Ishihara's policies denounced by the opposition parties, including the bailout of Shinginko Tokyo, may end up getting blocked.

Contemplating a DPJ victory two days before the race, Ishihara lamented that Tokyo could be "thrown into confusion."

"I hope (the opposition) will cooperate in joining calm discussions," he said, and confessed to feeling a "sense of crisis."

The DPJ is expected to act swiftly on Shinginko Tokyo, Aoyama said. The party wants Tokyo to withdraw from the lender. The ailing bank is primarily owned by the metropolitan government and is Ishihara's pet project.s

"As Ishihara will not be proposing new bills (on Shinginko Tokyo) in the near future, it will be a question of how the DPJ goes about dealing with it" and instigating change, he said.