TOKYO, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Democratic Party of Japan(DPJ) won victories in two upper house by-elections Sunday to fill vacant seats in Shizuoka and Kanagawa Prefectures, local media reported Monday.

    In Kanagawa Prefecture, Yoichi Kaneko, a 47-year-old former university lecturer running on the DPJ ticket, defeated former Yokohama city assembly member Hiroko Tsunoda, 42, field by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and two other candidates. With 83 percent of the vote in Kanagawa counted as of 11:10 p.m., Kaneko had garnered 840,087, against 670,126 for Tsunoda.

    In Shizuoka Prefecture, Hirokazu Tsuchida, a 59-year-old doctor and chairman of a nursing home, collected 567,374 votes, easily beating the second-placed LDP candidate Shigeki Iwai, 41, who got 404,763.

    The two upper house by-elections became the first national elections held under the Hatoyama administration.

    The victories, combined with the cabinet's high approval rating and the momentum of a change in government, are sure to give a boost to Hatoyama, who is to attend the extraordinary Diet session on Monday.