Photo/Illutration Tomoko Tamura, right, head of the JCP, responds to a reporter's question. Akira Koike, the chief of the party secretariat, is sitting next to her during the news conference held in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward late on Oct. 27. (Tatsuya Shimada)

After scoring scoops on funding scandals that hurt the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Japanese Communist Party newspaper will have gloomy news to report in coming editions.

The JCP won only eight seats in the Oct. 27 Lower House election, two seats below its pre-election strength.  

The dismal showing marked the first time that the number of JCP-held seats in the Lower House fell below 10 since 2012.

The party’s newspaper, the Akahata (red flag), had broken the story on the LDP's political funds scandal, which backed the ruling party into a corner.

The Akahata scooped major media outlets in exposing the unreported political funds.

The major scandal led the LDP deciding not to give its official endorsement to scandal-tainted candidates in the election.

The Akahata also reported in the final stages of the election campaign that the LDP sent 20 million yen ($131,000) to the party branches of non-endorsed candidates, the same level of support given to officially endorsed candidates.

However, the public backlash over those twin scandals failed to boost the JCP candidates.

While other opposition parties dramatically increased their number of seats, JCP officials were left with concern for the future of their party.

Voters who sought to punish the LDP instead cast their ballots for other opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People.

The JCP endorsed 213 candidates in single-seat constituencies in races where opposition parties including the JCP didn’t field unified candidates in an effort to avoid dividing votes. However, the JCP won only one seat in a single-seat constituency. 

The party also made its goal in this election to gain 6.5 million votes for the proportional representation portion, which is 1.6 times more than the previous election.

However, the JCP fell from nine to seven seats in the proportional representation portion.

The election marked the first contested under new JCP leader Tomoko Tamura, who took over the top post from longtime party head Kazuo Shii in January.

“We need to create new supporters among the younger generation,” Tamura said at a news conference on Oct. 28, expressing urgency in the need for strengthening her party. 

On the same day, the party announced that it will appoint Tetsuya Shiokawa to replace retiring Keiji Kokuta as the JCP’s Diet affairs committee chief.

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