Restoration party emerges as "third force" Sunday's election marked the formal arrival on the national scene of the insurgent Japan Restoration party, which was the unambiguous winner among a clutch of small and new parties competing to form a "third force" in Japanese politics. Japanese media projected that the Restoration party would win between 41 and 58 seats - just a short way behind the defeated Democratic party - making it the third strongest group in the lower house. Some supporters had hoped for a stronger showing when the group this year made the transition from a regional organisation based in Osaka to a national party. But it was still impressive for a party that had acquired less than a dozen Diet seats through defections before the election. The result ensures a national political platform for the party's outspoken rightwing leader Shintaro Ishihara, 80, and his 43-year-old populist deputy Toru Hashimoto. Mr Ishihara, who resigned as Tokyo governor to contest the election, will take a seat in the Diet where he will redouble efforts to push Japan toward more nationalist policies. The former Tokyo governor is a vocal critic of China who wants to scrap Japan's pacifistic constitution and has repeatedly called for the nation to consider development of nuclear weapons. Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo, said Mr Ishihara and Mr Hashimoto were likely to keep pressure on the victorious Liberal Democratic party to live up to campaign pledges to take a tougher line on issues such as a flaring territorial dispute with Beijing . He added that the outspoken Mr Ishihara "a wild card who has a national stage" could himself also become the trigger for new tensions. "I don't think he represents all that many Japanese people, but there is a risk that his positions will be interpreted in China and South Korea as Japanese opinion," said Mr Kingston. Speaking on Sunday night, however, Mr Ishihara focused on less internationally sensitive issues such as his desire to tame Japan's powerful bureaucrats. "We have to destroy the hold that central government bureaucrats have over politics," he said. Officials cannot come up with new ideas. It remains unclear how closely Mr Ishihara's priorities are shared by Mr Hashimoto, the driving force behind the party and its undisputed leader until a hasty pre-election political marriage with Mr Ishihara and other conservative politicians. Analysts say the Restoration party's policies on issues such as nuclear power are ambiguous and that relations between its two leaders could be difficult, not least since Mr Hashimoto is continuing as Osaka mayor rather than joining the Diet. But Mr Ishihara on Sunday waved aside suggestions of possible strains, saying Mr Hashimoto would arrive on the national stage before too long. "I really want that kind of politician of genius and energy to get into national politics," said Mr Ishihara. Of course he will appear in the Diet soon. It's his destiny.