Tamaki Hosokawa 

TOKYO: Japanese Communist Party election candidate Tomoyuki Tanigawa, who is running for a House of Representatives seat in Tokyo, has received support from Rie Saito, known as a best-selling author who was once a nightclub worker.

As a newly elected member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, Saito is hoping Sunday’s election will bring change to Japan. She herself belongs to a more Conservative party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, but she says it is important to cooperate with other parties to beat the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

“I think it really makes sense for us to come together as joint forces to counter the Liberal Democratic Party’s if that will contribute for a brighter future,” Saito said in her speech. “I do not feel like our voices are being heard by the current administration.”

Saito lost her hearing completely at the age of 1 and has a speech impediment.

She became very popular by working in a nightclub with her unique hospitality by exchanging notes with her clients. 

In 2009, she published her first book, which was about her life in a nightclub. The book became a best-seller and was also adapted into a TV series.