Hibito, on the left, has become the first Japanese to land on the moon, while his older brother, Mutta, chases after to becoming an astronaut himself.

Space Brothers won some notable manga awards, and has recently been turned into a live-action film and an anime series— so it’s definitely increased the attention on Japan’s role in space exploration, which is mainly guided by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Photo by Kirt Cathy.

But a manga alone isn’t the only thing increasing attention over Japan’s role in space exploration— or specifically, Japan’s leadership role in space!

Coming this March, the International Space Station (ISS) will have its first Japanese astronaut as the commander of the ship!

But before we get into this future head honcho, I asked myself, who was the first Japanese man in space? Who was the first Japanese woman? Who was the first Japanese to spacewalk? I thought it’d be interesting to touch upon some of the “firsts” in space for Japanese people and see some of their awesome, out of this world (literally) accomplishments.

First Japanese Man- or Men- in Space?

So I think it’s a given that we should identify who the first Japanese person was to go to space.

Except I have come to the realization that this is kind of hard to determine.

It really depends on how you define “first” and if you consider Japanese ethnicity or citizenship.

If you want to know who the first person of Japanese ethnicity (regardless of citizenship) to fly to space, then it would probably be Great Astronaut Onizuka Ellison Shoji Onizuka, a NASA astronaut and the first Japanese American (and the first Asian American) to reach space.

Photo by NASA

Onizuka went to space for the first time on space shuttle Discovery’s mission STS-51C in 1985. But most remember him as being part of the crew of space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 that killed Onizuka and six other astronauts shortly after launch.

A tribute monument for Onizuka in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Photo credit Sam Howzit

But if you want to know who the first Japanese person with Japanese citizenship to reach space was, then it would be Akiyama Toyohiro.

BUT HE WASN’T AN ASTRONAUT.

Photo credit famille.sebile

Toyohiro was actually a journalist who was working under Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) when he was chosen in 1989 to train for a commercial flight to the Mir space station, which was maintained by the Soviet Union at the time. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Soviets claim to have received 14 million dollars for his flight, and TBS is expected to have spent about 20 million dollars for Toyohiro to fly and report about life in outer space for 8 days. That’s a really expensive first commercial spaceflight!

I actually had no idea that a journalist was the first person of Japanese citizenship to reach space— but as a space enthusiast myself, it kind of gives me hope that someday, I too, will maybe be able to go to space…

Okay, so Who’s the First Astronaut of Japanese Citizenship to Reach Space?

Growing up in Japan, I remember constantly hearing this guy’s name as the first Japanese astronaut— so I guess it was natural that I didn’t really know who the aforementioned journalist was.

Photo by McGill Research and International Relations

Mamoru Mohri was a Japanese astronaut selected by Japan’s National Space Development Agency (NASDA, before it was renamed to JAXA) in 1985. He was eventually chosen as the first Japanese national astronaut to board space shuttle Endeavor’s mission in 1992. Growing up, I remember everyone referring to him fondly as Mohri-san, the first to represent Japan in outer space. Because of US and Russia’s clear dominance in space exploration, Mohri-san boarding the Endeavor was considered to be a big honor and a step for Japan to continue building their influence in space exploration.

Mohri-san influences Hibito and Mutta in their dream to becoming astronauts.

Mohri-san can even be found in the aforementioned anime Space Brothers as a critical role in influencing the two protagonist to become astronauts. Mohri-san continues to be revered to this day by many Japanese, old and young.

First Japanese Woman in Space

So we’ve exhausted our debate on who the first Japanese male in space was. What about female?

Photo by NASA

Chiaki Mukai, or Dr. Chiaki Mukai, was the first Japanese female to go to space. Before becoming an astronaut, she worked as a cardiovascular surgeon. In 1985 she was selected by NASDA as an astronaut along with Mohri-san, and flew off to space in 1994 on space shuttle Columbia.

Seeing as female astronauts was not as common back then (let alone a Japanese one), Mukai may have inspired many Japanese women to take on the dream of becoming astronauts themselves, or getting involved in science-related fields. Her life as an astronaut has been made into a drama as well, and along with Mohri-san, she continues to be respected by many Japanese.

First Japanese to Spacewalk

Space walks are the trippiest things ever. I mean, just the thought of being flown to space gives me the chills (in a good way), but, being outside? Exposed to space? Now that must be an experience.

So who was the lucky Japanese guy that got to be the first space walker? His name is Takao Doi, and while he no longer is an active astronaut with JAXA, he continues to work in space-related fields.

Photo by Giving to Rice University

Doi was chosen as an astronaut by NASDA in 1985, along with Mohri-san and Dr. Mukai. I guess 1985 was a big year for NASDA, having chosen some of the earliest Japanese astronauts. Doi flew to space on space shuttle Columbia in 1997 and conducted Extravehicular Activities (EVA), dubbed by many as “space walks”. Through two space walks he logged close to 13 hours in outer space, and became the first Japanese to do so.

Doi-san is all smiles in outer space.

Doi, no longer an active astronaut, began working at his appointment in 2009 at the United Nations’ Office of Outer State Affairs (UNOOSA).

And last but most relevant to current news…

First Japanese Commander of the International Space Station (ISS)

First Japanese man (or men) in space, first women, first space walk… Japanese astronauts have come quite far in manned space exploration, and Japan will finally have their own astronaut, Koichi Wakata, be the first commander of the International Space Station (ISS) this March— and he’s in space right now as I write this!

Astronaut Wakata as he boarded the Soyuz rocket in November, along with the Sochi Olympic torch.

Wakata, chosen by NASDA in 1992 as an astronaut candidate, flew to space for the first time in 1996 on board space shuttle Endeavor. He’s flown to space quite a lot and has been on four space shuttle missions. He’s quite the veteran, getting the job done up in space, but he’s recently been known to have created some fun light painting photos in zero-gravity, which he tweeted.

He’s been hailed by Japanese space enthusiasts as stepping up the leadership role for Japan in space exploration. I suppose you could say he’s going through a bit of celebrity-phase right now— the guy has his own biographical manga now for kids that aspire to become astronauts like himself.

There’s Much More…

These astronauts are very famous and well-regarded as paving a way for some of the “firsts” in space for Japan, but they’re certainly not the only ones contributing to space exploration. JAXA recently selected three new astronauts, two of which have already been assigned on a mission in the near future. I’m positive that in the future, we’ll see these currently active astronauts continue to represent Japan and make some remarkable accomplishments of their own!

Everybody wave!

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Though of course, Japan’s space program has its unique quirks that set it apart from NASA or the Russian Federal Space Agency; like using origami to train astronauts, its own Lego set, and psychoanalyzing dirty dishes.

But I might be getting ahead of myself – let’s start with the basics. What’s the Japanese space program like?

Japan’s Space Agency

Japan’s equivalent of NASA is the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or 独立行政法人宇宙航空研究開発機構 for short. (“JAXA” works, too.)

JAXA does pretty much everything you’d imagine a space agency to do – launching satellites into space, conducting scientific studies, and training astronauts to work on the International Space Station (ISS).

If JAXA is Japan’s NASA, then Tanegashima Space Center is Japan’s Cape Canaveral. Tanegashima is where JAXA launches all of its Gundams satellites, both scientific and commercial.

An exception to that was Kibo, a module built for the ISS by JAXA. Kibo (or “hope”) was launched into space aboard the US space shuttle.

But some of the most high-profile work that JAXA has done has been sending Japanese astronauts into space to work on the ISS. But how does JAXA choose just who gets to go?

Japanese Astronaut Selection

At JAXA, astronaut training can be a little wacky. A lot of astronaut training nowadays is just testing if you’ll go insane if you’re isolated for extended periods of time.

Space exploration is cool, but sitting around the ISS for six months can be kind of boring. And if The Shining taught me anything, it’s that leaving people isolated for a long time can be a very bad idea.

To test people, JAXA isolates small groups of astronaut candidates for days at a time and makes them do menial tasks. Mary Roach’s excellent book Packing For Mars talks about one of those tasks: folding 1,000 origami cranes.

In traditional Japanese culture, folding 1,000 paper cranes is supposed to bring good luck; at JAXA, folding cranes tests how crazy you’ll go if you have to fold 1,000 paper cranes.

Roach explains:

The genius of the Thousand Cranes test is that it creates a chronological record of each candidate’s work. As they complete their cranes, candidates string them on a single long thread. At the end of the isolation, everyone’s string of cranes will be taken away and analyzed. It’s forensic origami: As the deadline nears and the pressure increases, do the candidate’s creases become sloppy? How do the first ten cranes compare to the last?

And it’s not just origami cranes that are analyzed with a fine tooth comb. Every single little detail of an astronaut candidate’s performance is put under the microscope.

I can understand why JAXA does all of this. I mean, if you’re going to spend millions of dollars to send somebody up into space, you should probably make sure that they’re suited for the job.

But some of JAXA’s tests seem a tad ridiculous. After astronaut candidates eat lunch, their dirty plates are carted off to a room full of experts who analyze what every little thing means.

Once again, Mary Roach tells us about the tests:

What the candidates don’t know is that the dirty dishes are then loaded onto a dolly and wheeled away to be photographed. The photos will be delivered to the psychiatrists and psychologists, along with the origami birds.

I would understand psychologists talking to potential astronauts to see if their parents didn’t hug them enough as children, but looking at pictures of a candidate’s dirty dishes? That seems like a bit much.

What Is JAXA Doing Now?

Unfortunately, prospects for Japanese astronauts are starting to look a litle dim as manned spaced flight is winding down. Last year, NASA scrapped its space shuttle program, and the current economic crisis means that governments are cutting budgets for space travel.

But that’s not to say that JAXA is sitting around doing nothing. The agency still sends astronauts up to the ISS with Russian spaceships, and continue to conduct scientific tests in collaboration with other space agencies, trying to unravel the mysteries of the universe.

And people have shown that they’re still really interested in JAXA. After popular demand, Lego recently released a model of JAXA’s Hayabusa spacecraft, complete with a tiny Lego figure of Hayabusa’s project leader.

Surprisingly, the Hayabusa model is selling like hotcakes, even overseas. Even at $50 a pop, Lego’s success really shows that people still have a love for space exploration that can’t be ignored.

[Header image sources: 1, 2, 3.]