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List of Japanese astronauts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fourteen citizens of Japan have participated in space flights. Of these, eleven— nine men and two women—were professional astronauts, two were space tourists, and one was a journalist who participated in a commercial Soyuz space flight.

Two Japanese astronauts have been in space at the same time on two occasions :

Six of the eleven professional astronauts have retired, while five (colored) remain in active service.

# Name Photo Mission(s) (dates) Launch times Total duration Spacewalk times Spacewalk duration Notes
1 Toyohiro Akiyama
(Japanese: 秋山 豊寛)
born 22 July 1942
Soyuz TM-11, 1990-12-02 - 1990-12-10 1 7 days 21 hours 54 minutes 0 0

The first journalist in space,
first Japanese in space,
first civilian on a commercial space flight,
cosmonaut researcher,
professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design

2 Mamoru Mohri
(Japanese: 毛利 衛)
born 29 January 1948

Endeavour STS-47, 1992-09-12 - 1992-09-20
Endeavour STS-99, 2000-02-11 - 2000-02-22

2 19 days 04 hours 08 minutes 0 0

The first Japanese astronaut of an official Japanese space program,
Doctor of Science in Chemistry,
Payload specialist,
specialist in flying.

3 Chiaki Mukai
(Japanese: 向井 千秋)
born 6 May 1952

Columbia STS-65, 1994-07-08 - 1994-07-23
Discovery STS-95, 1998-10-29 - 1998-11-07

2 23 days 15 hours 39 minutes 0 0

The first female astronaut of Japan,
cardiosurgeon,
specialist in payload.

4 Koichi Wakata
(Japanese: 若田 光一)
born 1 August 1963

Endeavour STS-72, 1996-01-11 - 1996-01-20
Discovery STS-92, 2000-10-11 - 2000-10-24
Discovery STS-119, ISS-18, 19, 20, Endeavour STS-127, 2009-03-15 - 2009-07-31
Soyuz TMA-11M, ISS-38, 39, 2013-11-07 - 2014-05-14
SpaceX Crew-5, ISS-68, 69, 2022-10-05 - 2023-03-12

5 504 days 18 hours 33 minutes 2 14 hours 02 minutes

Flight specialist,
flight engineer,
commander of ISS-39.

5 Takao Doi
(Japanese: 土井 隆雄)
born 18 September 1954

Columbia STS-87, 1997-11-19 - 1997-12-05
Endeavour STS-123, 2008-03-11 - 2008-03-25

2 31 days 10 hours 45 minutes 2 12 hours 42 minutes

Doctor of Science in
aerospace engineering
Doctor of Astronomy;
specialist in flying.

6 Soichi Noguchi
(Japanese: 野口 聡一)
born 15 April 1965

Discovery STS-114, 2005-07-26 - 2005-08-09
Soyuz TMA-17, ISS-22, 23, 2009-12-20 - 2010-06-02
SpaceX Crew-1, ISS-64, ISS-65

3 344 days 9 hours 33 minutes 3 20 hours 05 minutes

Aeronautical engineer,
flight specialist,
flight engineer.

7 Akihiko Hoshide
(Japanese: 星出 彰彦)
born 28 December 1968

Discovery STS-124, 2008-05-31 - 2008-06-14
Soyuz TMA-05M, ISS-32, 33, 2012-07-15 - 2012-11-19,
SpaceX Crew-2, ISS-65, 2021-04-23 - 2021-11-09

3 340 days 11 hours 41 minutes 3 21 hours 03 minutes[1]

Flight specialist,
flight engineer.

8 Naoko Yamazaki
(Japanese: 山崎 直子)
born 27 December 1970
Discovery STS-131, 2010-04-05 - 2010-04-20 1 15 days 02 hours 47 minutes 0 0

Aeronautical engineer,
specialist in flying.

9 Satoshi Furukawa
(Japanese: 古川 聡)
born 04 April 1964

Soyuz TMA-02M, ISS-28, 29, 2011-07-07 - 2011-11-22
SpaceX Crew-7, ISS-69 / 70, 2023-08-26 - 2024-03-12

2 0 0

Surgeon,
flight engineer.

10 Kimiya Yui
(Japanese: 油井 亀美也)
born 30 January 1970
Soyuz TMA-17M, ISS-44, 45, 2015-07-22 - 2015-12-11 1 141 days 16 hours 09 minutes 0 0

Colonel of the Air Force of Japan,
flight engineer.

11 Takuya Onishi
(Japanese: 大西 卓哉)
born 22 December 1975
Soyuz MS-01, ISS-48, ISS49, 2016-07-07 - 2016-10-30 1 115 days 02 hours 21 minutes 0 0 Flight engineer.
12 Norishige Kanai[2]
(Japanese: 金井 宣茂)
born 05 December 1976
Soyuz MS-07, ISS-54, 55, 2017-12-17 - 2018-06-03 1 168 days 05 hours 18 minutes 1 5 hours 57 minutes

Doctor,
flight engineer.

13 Yusaku Maezawa
(Japanese: 前澤 友作)
born 22 November 1975
Soyuz MS-20, 2021-12-08 - 2021-12-20 1 11 days 10 hours 9 minutes 0 0 Space tourist
14 Yozo Hirano
(Japanese: 平野 陽三)
born 1985
Soyuz MS-20, 2021-12-08 - 2021-12-20 1 11 days 10 hours 9 minutes 0 0 Space tourist

Future flights

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# Name Photo Mission(s) (dates) Launch times Total duration Spacewalk times Spacewalk duration Notes
Takuya Onishi Crew-10

References

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  1. ^ William Harwood (January 11, 2012). "Realtime coverage of U.S. EVA-20 (P6 coolant radiator bypass)". CBS News. Archived from the original on July 22, 2017.
  2. ^ "Statistics - Kanai Norishige". spacefacts.de. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
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