Background and career
Renhō Saitō (斉藤 蓮舫, Saitō Renhō; née Hsieh (謝), formerly Murata (村田); born 28 November 1967), known mononymously as Renhō, is a Japanese politician and former journalist who has served as a member of the House of Councillors from 2004 to 2024, and again since 2025. She was the leader of the now-defunct major opposition party, the Democratic Party from 2016 to 2017. Renhō was a candidate for the 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election with the support of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), Japanese Communist Party (JCP), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), but was defeated by incumbent Yuriko Koike, placing third behind Shinji Ishimaru.
