The Democratic Party of Japan has won a landslide victory in elections on Sunday, ending 50 years of almost unbroken conservative rule by the Liberal Democratic Party.
Its leader, Yukio Hatoyama, is in the process of forming a government.
Media forecasts give the DPJ 308 of the 480 seats in the lower house to the LDP's 119, almost an exact reversal of their previous standing
Mr Hatoyama now faces the challenge of restoring economic growth after a crushing recession.
He has promised to focus spending on families and education instead of companies and infrastructure.
So what will this change mean for Japan? The World Today spoke to Tomohiko Taniguchi, a professor at Keio University.
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