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Monday July 30, 5:29 AM Defiant Abe to stay in power despite crushing defeat for LDP (Kyodo) _ Japan's ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suffered a crushing defeat in Sunday's upper house election, losing its majority in the chamber for the first time since 1998, a result that could increase pressure on Abe to step down. Abe, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party, appeared determined to hang on to power, but it is uncertain whether he will be able to handle the looming political gridlock as confidence in him has been sharply eroded. "This humiliating setback is my responsibility," Abe repeatedly said in a series of television interviews he gave as the results unfolded. But he also said, "Our nation building has just begun...I would like to continue to fulfill my responsibility as prime minister." The House of Councillors election, the first national election for Abe who took office in September, comes at a time when his popularity has plummeted amid growing public frustration over pension system blunders, political funds scandals and gaffes by some Cabinet members. Abe, 52, suggested he would consider reshuffling his Cabinet after the election but ruled out dissolving the House of Representatives, the more powerful lower house of Japan's parliament, for another election. The LDP won 37 seats in Sunday's election, reducing its total number of upper house seats to 83 in the 242-seat chamber, including 46 that were uncontested this time. But the number of seats the LDP garnered on Sunday fell far short of the 44 it won in the upper house election of 1998 that forced Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to immediately step down. The figure of 37 was the LDP's second-worst upper house election result since it was established in 1955. Half the seats in the upper house come up for grabs every three years and a total of 377 candidates were vying for the 121 at stake this time round. The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan became the largest party in the chamber with 109 seats -- 60 won on Sunday plus an uncontested 49. The DPJ had a total of 81 before the election. The opposition camp led by the DPJ secured a combined majority in the upper house. But DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa was conspicuously absent from television interviews, having been advised by a doctor to rest due to fatigue after campaigning, according to the party. The LDP-led coalition has a comfortable majority in the lower house, which has greater legislative power and the final say on the state budget and the election of a prime minister. Losing control in the upper house, nonetheless, will make it all the more difficult for Abe's administration to push its legislative agenda through parliament, such as a bill to extend Japan's dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to help U.S.-led antiterrorism activities in the Indian Ocean beyond its current legal limit of November. The DPJ is set to take the post of upper house president. It would be the first time that a political party other than the LDP has held the most seats in the upper house since the LDP came into being in 1955. Symbolizing the major setback for the LDP is the loss of Toranosuke Katayama, the No. 2 man in the LDP's upper house caucus and a leader of the party's campaign strategy, in his Okayama constituency against a rookie from the DPJ. The LDP incumbent also lost to an opposition rookie in Shimane Prefecture, the home of LDP upper house caucus leader Mikio Aoki. LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa submitted his resignation to Abe, who is party president, early Monday to take responsibility for the setback, party sources said. Aoki suggested on TV he may also step down. The New Komeito party, the LDP's junior partner in the coalition, also suffered a setback, winning only nine seats, compared to the 12 it held that were at stake in the election. The party said it would back Abe staying in power. The small opposition Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party suffered in the shadow of the LDP-DPJ rivalry and failed to retain the seats they had up for grabs. The total number of JCP seats fell to seven from the pre-election strength of nine, while the SDP lost one to five. Roughly 100 million Japanese citizens aged 20 or older were eligible to vote. Voter turnout stood at 58.64 percent, up 2.07 percentage points from the previous upper house election in 2004. Abe took over as prime minister from the popular Junichiro Koizumi. Abe, the first Japanese prime minister born after World War II, pledged at the time to create a "beautiful" Japan. He won high approval ratings of around 70 percent in a number of polls soon after taking office about 10 months ago. Many LDP lawmakers and candidates had hoped the telegenic hawk on North Korean issues would lead them to victory in the upper house election. But the prime minister's popularity has since nose-dived, even to below the critical 30 percent line in some polls, after pension record blunders by the Social Insurance Agency, political funds scandals involving LDP lawmakers and unpopular remarks and gaffes by Cabinet members. Earlier this year it was revealed that pension data connected to about 50 million accounts had been misplaced by the agency and the identities of the account holders have yet to be determined. The situation and the disclosure of other pension-related problems have caused anxiety among existing and future pensioners about whether they will receive due benefits. Toshikatsu Matsuoka, minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, committed suicide in May after coming under criticism over a political funds scandal and his alleged links to bid-rigging cases connected to forestry public works projects. Norihiko Akagi, who Abe picked to succeed Matsuoka, has been hit by similar allegations about finances. Last December, administrative reform minister Genichiro Sata left the Cabinet over a political funds scandal. Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma resigned earlier this month amid a controversy over remarks he made that suggested the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan in World War II were justified. In January, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa had come under fire for describing women as "birth-giving machines."