TOKYO, September 2, 2009 (AFP) - A hepatitis activist and a boyish-looking former TV anchorman are among the new faces set to enter parliament and rejuvenate Japan's often bland politics after the weekend's landmark elections.

The centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), swept to power in Sunday's polls, brings in a slew of political newcomers, some of whose personal stories champion voters' real-life concerns, from the economy to health care.

Almost half of the DPJ's new legislators are first-time winners.

The Democrats ended the Liberal Democratic Party's 54-year grip on power, thanks in part to the opposition's fresh-faced rookies taking on the LDP's old guard, including former premiers and politicians decades their seniors.

In southern Japan, former defence minister Fumio Kyuma, 68, lost to Eriko Fukuda, 28, who gained prominence in a legal battle against the state over tainted blood products that made many people contract hepatitis.

A well-known activist, Fukuda was born with hepatitis and has written a book chronicling her daily struggles with the disease.

The diminutive Fukuda's battle against Kyuma was dubbed a "bear hunt," a play on the name Kyuma, which can be read as the Japanese word for bear.

Takeshi Saiki, a spikey-haired 35-year-old former anchorman for public broadcaster NHK, won in Shizuoka prefecture south of Tokyo addressing the country's acute shortage of doctors and obstetricians.

He said he felt the urgency of health care reform when his wife was about to give birth to their second son.

Due to a lack of local doctors in his area, he had to race to a hospital in another prefecture hundreds of kilometers (miles) away.

With fresh blood flowing into Japan's often staid political scene, the average age of members has fallen slightly. For DPJ lawmakers the average age is 49.4 years, compared to 56.6 for the conservative LDP.

The number of elected women increased from 43 to 54, or 11.25 percent of the lower house total. While the figure remains the lowest among industrialised nations, among the female lawmakers, 70 percent belong to the DPJ.

The election also slowed the trend of so-called "hereditary" politicians winning seats, where second and third-generation lawmakers have often followed in their parents or grandparents' political footsteps.

The proportion of hereditary politicians fell to 17.3 percent from 27.3 percent, pushed down by the DPJ's ban on the practice.

Shunichi Suzuki, son of former prime minister Zenko Suzuki, who served 1980-1982, lost his seat in northern Iwate prefecture. Hirotaka Ishihara, one of the Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara's sons, also bowed out.

But Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi (2001-2006) won for the first time, backed by the persistent popularity of the flamboyant former premier.

In total, only nine percent of DPJ-elected members are hereditary politicians compared to 43 percent for the LDP.

"At the LDP, a novice lawmaker wanting to have a political career has no chance because he is generally blocked by an heir" of a former lawmaker where he wants to run, said Robert Dujarric, a Japan researcher at Temple University.

"That prompted many young talented people to turn to the DPJ, which allowed it to rejuvenate the party a bit," he added.

Despite the fresh-faced members, old-school political heavyweights -- such as the former DPJ party head, 67-year-old Ichiro Ozawa, credited as having masterminded the DPJ's victory -- firmly hold the party's reins.

And the party leader and soon-to-be prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, is, at 62, himself a blueblood, the scion of a political dynasty dating back to the 19th century Meiji period.