Tetsuo Saito (斉藤 鉄夫) is a Japanese politician of the Komeito, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). Saito is currently serving his fifth term in the Lower House by Chugoku proportional election and is the current Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Career

A native of Ōchi District, Shimane, he attended Tokyo Institute of Technology as an undergraduate studying applied physics, graduating in 1976, and received a Ph.D. in engineering from the same school. His first employment was with the major construction firm Shimizu Corporation. Saito was a visiting researcher at Princeton University for three years beginning in 1986. He was elected to the Diet for the first time in 1993. Saito is known for his ties with NASA as well as expert knowledge of lunar bases and clean energy technology. Due to his knowledge in these areas, he was appointed parliamentary secretary of science and technology in 1999 in the Keizo Obuchi administration. Saito was appointed Minister of the Environment by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on 1 August 2008. In the Cabinet of Prime Minister Tarō Asō, appointed on 24 September 2008, Saito was retained in his post. On 9 November 2024, Saito was selected as leader of Komeito following an extraordinary party convention to replace Keiichi Ishii, who lost his parliamentary seat in the 2024 Japanese general election.

Personal life

His main hobbies are swimming and trains.