is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played 11 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Saito rose to national stardom as a senior for Waseda Jitsugyo High School when he led the team to a title in the 88th National High School Baseball Championship in . He was given the nickname by the Japanese media for his use of a handkerchief to wipe sweat from his face while on the mound and is also often referred to as . Early life Saito was born in Nitta, a town in Gunma Prefecture that has since been incorporated into the larger city of Ōta. He began playing baseball in the first grade, following in the footsteps of his older brother, who as team captain would later lead Kiryū High School to the semi-finals of the regional Gunma Tournament of the National High School Baseball Championship. Saito's desire to play in the national baseball tournaments held at Koshien Stadium was sparked when he went to the stadium to see Kiryu Commercial High School, the Gunma champions, play in the summer tournament in 2002. He considered enrolling in Kiryu High School like his brother, but opted to apply at a school with a stronger baseball reputation so that he could play at a higher level. High school career In 2004, Saito left his home in Gunma to attend Waseda Jitsugyo High School, a private affiliate school of Waseda University, choosing to live in Tokyo with his brother. He earned a spot on the team's bench in his first year and was assigned the uniform number "1" (which denotes a high school team's ace pitcher in Japan) by the summer of his second. However, while he managed to take his team to the semi-finals of the West Tokyo Tournament that summer, he gave up three home runs in the match against Nihon University Third Senior High School in a humiliating mercy-rule loss. Saito's team faced Nihon University Third High again just months later in the semi-finals of the regional tournament held that fall. This time, Saito pitched a complete game shutout and went on to win in the finals as well. That November, he led his team to the semi-finals of the 36th Meiji Jingu Tournament, securing Waseda Jitsugyo High a berth in the 78th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament that would be held the following spring. In