Exit polls: Japan's ruling party loses seats

  Roses for winners: Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Yukio Edano places rosettes on the names of winning candidates of his party during ballot counting in the upper house parliamentary elections at the party's election headquarters in Tokyo Sunday. The Democrats lost seats in the parliamentary elections Sunday, according to media exit polls, dealing a setback to the progressive party's 10-month-old government. AP/Greg Baker

Japanese media are projecting that the ruling Democrats lost seats in a parliamentary election, dealing a setback to the progressive party's 10-month old government.

Public broadcaster NHK predicted that the Democratic Party of Japan won less than 50 contested seats in Sunday's upper house election, down from 54 before the polls. Other TV stations put the DPJ at 47 to 48 seats.

The projected results mean that Prime Minister Naoto Kan's party will lose its 121-seat majority with its coalition partner in the 242-seat upper house.

The election, in which half the seats in the upper house were up for grabs, won't directly affect the Democrats' grip on power because they control the more powerful lower house of parliament.

Official results are not expected until Monday.