JAPANESE Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba denied today reports he planned to resign over a historic defeat of his ruling party in a weekend election.

Mr Ishiba has been under growing pressure to step down as his ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, lost their majority in the 248-member upper house, the smaller of Japan’s two-chamber parliament on Sunday.

The loss means Mr Ishiba’s ruling coalition, which also lost a majority in the lower house in October, now lacks a majority in both houses of parliament, making it even more difficult for his government to achieve any policy goals.

Mr Ishiba had announced his intention to stay on to tackle pressing challenges, including tariff talks with the United States, without creating a political vacuum, sparking calls from inside and outside his own party for a quick resignation to respond to the election results.

The Yomiuri newspaper said Mr Ishiba had decided to announce his resignation by the end of July.

But Mr Ishiba denied the report and said he wants to focus on the US trade deal, which places a 15 per cent tax on Japanese cars and other goods imported into the US, down from the initial 25 per cent.