Tokyo ( - Voting in Japan's general elections ended Sunday evening in Japan, with initial exit polls pointing to a landslide victory for the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

The first House of Representatives election in four years ended at 8 pm (1100 GMT) at nearly 51,000 polling stations.

Initial projections indicated that the DPJ was highly likely to win more than 300 seats in the 480-seat lower chamber to end more than 50 years of rule by Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party.

If the DPJ wins, 62-year-old party chief Yukio Hatoyama would likely become the next prime minister.  dpa