Rie Saitō

is a Japanese politician and author. Having lost her hearing as an infant, she wrote a best-selling book about her experience working at a host club, where she communicated with patrons using a notepad and pen.

Early life Saito was born on 3 February 1984, in Aomori, Japan. She lost her hearing after contracting meningitis as an infant. According to her autobiography, "Hitsudan Hostess", she was a juvenile delinquent throughout her teens.

Career In 2007, Saito moved to Tokyo and began working as a hostess in a high-end club in Ginza. She communicated with her patrons using a notepad and pen, and became the most popular hostess at the bar. She published "Hitsudan Hostess" in 2009.

Saito ran for office in 2015, and was elected to Tokyo's Kita Ward Assembly. Some of the systems in the legislature had to be changed to provide Saito equal access to what was being said. Basically, when a hearing person spoke into the microphone, a speech to text software would convert it to text displayed on a tablet. A person who isn't able to speak would be able to reply by typing their comment into the system, which would read it out loud. She ran for her old seat in the Kita Ward Assembly in May 2020, but didn't win that election either.

Saito ran for office again in 2021, and was elected as the member of Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, representing Ōta Ward. Regarding the change of electoral district from Kita Ward, which was her traditional base, the party’s Secretary-General, Tetsuro Fukuyama, explained, “She had a strong attachment to Kita Ward. However, she and the Tokyo chapter also agreed, and she decided to run in Ōta Ward.”

Saito later ran for the House of Representatives in 2026 as she representing Tōkai proportional representation block, having switched to Liberal Democratic Party.