[3] Mark Chen, a Taiwanese politician and former Secretary-General of the Office of the President of the Republic of China, is a distant relative of hers.

[7] She adopted her mother's surname, Saitō (斉藤), when she acquired Japanese citizenship; to avoid name confusion in her career, she began to go simply by Renhō.

In 1993, she became a newscaster on TBS and TV Asahi, covering several historical events including the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995.

[8] She reported from Taiwan during Chen Shui-bian's presidential campaign, which brought her to the attention of Taiwanese political leaders.

In July 2004, Renhō was elected to the House of Councillors representing Tokyo as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan.

"[9] Since taking office, she has traveled to Taiwan several times on official and unofficial business, garnering extensive public and media attention, and has become close to senior members of the Democratic Progressive Party.

Her new portfolio also included responsibility for civil service reform, gender equality and Japan's declining birthrate.

She viewed Abenomics to be a partial success, but pushes for greater investment in education, child-rearing and nursing care.

Some senior party members blamed the results, in part, on the ongoing questions surrounding Renhō's citizenship.

[20] Dissatisfied with the ambiguous direction of the DP leadership post the 2017 election, Renhō expressed interest in joining the new progressive Constitutional Democratic Party and had an exploratory talk with CDP leader Yukio Edano in mid-December.

[26][27] She automatically lost her seat in the House of Councillors on June 20, the day of the official announcement (kokuji) of the gubernatorial election.