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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Kirobo

Derived from the Japanese words for “hope” and “robot”, Kirobo was launched into space by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) along with literally tons of other supplies and machinery just last week. Kirobo was designed as a companion for International Space Station astronaut Koichi Wakata. Kirobo will also help in relaying information from Koichi to another robot on Earth.

The biggest challenge in making this robot was designing it so it could function in zero gravity. The robot talks, and can also recognize different faces and voices. It’s part of a program that aims to provide companionship for the elderly and/or lonely. For anyone who’s seen Robot & Frank (video clip further below), this is a pretty cool step in the direction of a future rife with sci-fi excitement.

Kirobo should spend about 18 months on the space station under the care of Koichi. I’m sure the other astronauts will get to play with him too, depending on how selfish Koichi is feeling. Too bad for them Kirobo only speaks Japanese.

The robot is a product of a collaboration between Dentsu, The University of Tokyo, Robo Garage, and Toyota. The overall goal of their Kibo Robot Project is to “help solve the problems brought about by a society that has become more individualized and less communicative. Nowadays, more and more people are living alone.” They hope a conversational robot such as Kirobo would help these people feel less lonely.

Japan, Robots, and the Future

Kirobo is the first of many robots that could improve the health and wellbeing of many people just by being there to talk and interact with. When humans are isolated, psychological and cognitive damage can occur.

Writing in Psychology Today, Hara Estroff Marano noted that “unmet social needs take a serious toll on health, eroding our arteries, creating high blood pressure, and even undermining learning and memory.” This is especially important for those living in Japan, because, as we all know, Japanese people live forever.

Being in space can get pretty lonely at times, and this is where Kirobo comes in. At least the people on the space station have their crew, but not all of them speak the same language as it is an international space station. Plus, this is just kind of a test to see how a robot like Kirobo would function if somewhere down the road we start sending lone astronauts on trips to the Moon, Mars, or beyond. Those people would get pretty lonely, and having a little buddy like Kirobo around would make things a little bit more bearable. Anyone seen the movie Moon?

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Ewj-BOBuc']

Also, the technology developed and refined here might one day improve your car (if it’s a Toyota, that is). Toyota is responsible for the voice recognition tech in Kirobo, so what they learn from this experiment will be applied in future car models with voice activated controls.

Kirobo arrives at the station this month, but won’t actually get set up and start speaking until later in the month or early September. Apparently Koichi isn’t even getting to the space station until November, but he’s going to be the first Japanese Commander of the International Space Station, so that’s pretty cool.

Koichi will start getting into serious tests and experiments with Kirobo come December. Why they sent Kirobo separate from Koichi and spread so far apart, I’m not quite sure.

How Did We Get Here? Where Will We Go?

If you’ve been keeping up with Japanese tech and/or Tofugu, you’ll know that Japan has been at the forefront of humanoid robot technology. Everything from sex dolls to retail store models has already been done (all of which secretly want to kill you). Kirobo is one of many steps towards getting robot companions to those that need them.

I think this is one of the coolest, but also scariest, directions robot tech can head in. How many movies and TV shows have we seen where robot companions go berserk, become self-aware, or cause some sort of harm to their fleshy overlords? I mean, we joked about it before when we were talking about Vocaloids, but actual physical robots like Kirobo pose a much larger potential threat.

Even more than the robots acting on their own, what about hackers and viruses for something to worry about? What if someone found a way to hack into your robot companion and used an Xbox controller to make the robot flush your cat down the toilet and rack up tons of expenses on pay-per-view? The horror! But no, seriously, how terrible would it be to get strangled in your sleep by your robot “friend”? That would be just dreadful.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAmQEWDEpkY']

On the other hand, how awesome would it be to have a fully capable companion robot? It would be super awesome. Think of how much more productive (or lazy) you could be. The robot could cook and clean for you, freeing up lots of time for you to do whatever.

And while these kinds of robots could help extreme introverts and the elderly, people who don’t get enough social interaction for whatever reason – these robots might also encourage some to not seek social interaction from real people. Why go out into the real work when you have a customizable robot that can do and be whatever you want it to? These are all things to consider as we head down this road.

Let’s Take a Few Steps Back

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eENrLp7nyQg']

But anyway, let’s get back to Kirobo and space. I think it’s a pretty cool idea. Right now it might seem like kind of like a novelty, and not really all that serious. But everything has to start somewhere, and Kirobo is already getting plenty of publicity since the space station he is going to is an international one, and lots of people care about space and stuff.

Will Kirobo be the catalyst that sparks the world into developing more robot companions like him? Perhaps. Will it happen anytime soon? Hopefully.

So tell me, would you want a companion robot like Kirobo or any other sort of robot like you’ve seen in fiction? Why or why wouldn’t you want one? Share your thoughts about the future and let us know in the comments!

Sites Referenced:
Forbes

Tanaka’s win wasn’t just remarkable because he was the first Japanese person to ever win the Boston Marthon (before the Kenyans came along and started kicking everybody’s asses), and not even because Tanaka was a survivor of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

What’s really remarkable about Tanaka is that he didn’t wear conventional running shoes; instead, Tanaka rocked the tabi (足袋), or split-toe Japanese footwear, to his 2:27:45 victory.

We’ve seen the Japanese technique for walking efficiently (see: our guide to walking like an Edo-era long-distance messenger), are there advantages in Japanese footwear too?

What Are Tabi?

Tabi are pretty simple: they’re just two-toed socks. Why are they two-toed? Do the Japanese have some sort of collective foot deformity?

Not quite. Hundreds of years ago in Japan, lots traditional Japanese footwear like zori have straps that fit in between your toes (just like flip-flops), so it makes sense that tabi are designed the same way.

And while a lot of people associate tabi with ninja, it wasn’t just Japan’s silent assassins who rocked the split-toed footwear. People of all walks of life wore tabi when the occasion called for it.

Over time, tabi evolved froms simple socks to so much more. Today, you can find a different type of tabi for virtually any use, and while tabi aren’t regularly worn by your average Japanese person, some professions and hobbies that still regularly make use of tabi.

Occasionally traditional artisans wear tabi, along with some construction workers (who sport the more sturdy jika-tabi); but there are some uses for tabi in the modern world, too.

Running Tabi

After Tanaka won the Boston Marathon, there was an effort by Japanese companies to capitalize on his success. A shoe company named Onitsuka (that later became ASICS) introduced a “marathon tabi” in the early 1950^s but it never really took off.

Nowadays though, people are rethinking the best way to run. Some people think that running barefoot or with shoes that replicate being barefoot (like the “five finger” shoes) are best.

Somewhere in that, shoe companies have decided that tabi-style two-toed shoes might be worth re-examining too. You can buy split-toed shoes from a ton of different Western companies, although I can’t really vouch for their fashionability.

Armored Tabi

Even samurai needed socks; although in the case of the samurai they needed tabi strong enough to deflect (or at least slow down) any threats to their toes. Nothing worse than getting an arrow in the foot.

Some armored tabi were covered in plate armor, some were protected by chainmail, but all of the samurai’s protective footwear were definitely form over function. I wouldn’t imagine that many people would want to wear armored tabi today.

Space Tabi

What’s better than tabi? How about tabi in space?! A few years ago, ASICS started working with JAXA, the Japanese space agency, to create specialty footware for Japanese astronauts heading up to the International Space Station.

The shoes featured a lightweight design, a better grip for zero-g situations, and a shape that helps stretch out the wearer’s muscles to fight muscle atrophy.

Are There Advantages to Tabi?

Despite all of these different uses for tabi, I haven’t found anything that supports the idea that the unique, two-toed design of tabi will make you run faster, jump higher, or look more handsome.

Regardless, for some people tabi are the footwear of choice. Some covet its traditionalism, others just think they’re plain comfy, but whatever the reason, tabi will be around for a long time. We’ll see whether or not the Kenyans ever get around to trying them out.

Thanks to Patrick for the article suggestion!

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.]