Asako Saito vies to become first Japanese councillor elected to Melbourne

North Melbourne resident and state government public servant Asako Saito is hoping to become the first Japanese councillor to serve the City of Melbourne if elected at October’s elections. 

Ms Saito is running in the number one position on a councillor-only ticket under the name Team Participate alongside fellow North Melbourne resident Sam Janda in the team’s second spot. 

The pair have set up a website participate.today which allows locals to place issue themed markers on a map of the city and add comments related to areas where they would like to see improvements made. 

It’s this type of direct engagement with the local community that Ms Saito told CBD News she wanted to see more of from Town Hall and was central to her motivations for seeking election. 

She added that she was also running because she wanted to see more women in government, and as someone who is mixed-race and multilingual, more “representation of diverse voices”. 

“What we want to achieve as Team Participate is to bring you into the room where it happens. We want to recognise that good policy and governance don’t just come up by chance,” Ms Saito said. 

We want to increase civic participation by decoding the red tape and we want to achieve this by listening to experts and the voices of lived and living experience by upholding the mantra, ‘nothing about us, without us’.

“We want to work with local communities and precinct associations, state and federal governments, to address local issues because we believe that it takes the community to build a thriving city.” 

As a 15-year resident of the city, Ms Saito knows it better than most having also previously worked for the City of Melbourne as one of its redcoat tourism officers based in the CBD giving guidance to visitors. 

Mr Janda is a transport professional working for the Department of Transport and Planning, who has helped to bring the next generation of trams to Melbourne and is passionate about safe and accessible transport for the city. 

While Ms Saito acknowledges she faces an “uphill battle” in getting elected on a councillor-only ticket in what’s an incredibly stacked 2024 election race, she said “it’s fantastic to see more people putting their hat in the ring who are from the local area”. •