is a Japanese politician from Tokorozawa, Saitama. Having graduated from Chuo University, Saitō was elected to in 1971. In 1979, he was elected to

Saitama Prefectural Assembly The is the prefectural parliament of Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1, ...

and served for 12 years. In October 1991, Saitō was elected mayor of Tokorozawa. While he was in office, in 1997, TV Asahi aired a news report alleging that the vegetables grown in Tokorozawa were polluted with

dioxin Dioxin may refer to: * 1,2-Dioxin or 1,4-Dioxin, two unsaturated heterocyclic 6-membered rings where two carbon atoms have been replaced by oxygen atoms, giving the molecular formula C4H4O2 *Dibenzo-1,4-dioxin, the parent compound also known as ...

. Saitō had his salary docked for covering up information about the pollution. He announced in August 2007 that he would not run for a fifth term and was succeeded by

Yoshiko Tōma is a Japanese politician from Ōmuta, Fukuoka. Having graduated from Keio University, Tōma was elected to in 1979. She ran unsuccessfully for the Tokorozawa mayoral election in 1991 and for the national lower house election in 1996 before she ...

in October 2007.

References

* * Mayors of places in Saitama Prefecture Members of the Saitama Prefectural Assembly 1939 births Living people Honorary Companions of the Order of Australia People from Tokorozawa, Saitama 20th-century Japanese politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians {{Japan-mayor-stub