On a recent Wednesday morning, Rie Saito wasn¡¯t giving a lengthy, energetic speech about her campaign pledges through a loudspeaker, unlike most of her competitors on the stump.
Instead, Saito was seen happily approaching voters on the street one by one, offering them a handshake and mouthing the words that have partly defined her campaign ahead of the July 21 Upper House election: ¡°I am deaf.¡±
¡°Depending on who she¡¯s speaking to, she changes her method of conversation from sign language to lip-reading and writing,¡± said Makiko Shimizu, her communication assistant.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.