First Japanese Astronaut

Toyohiro Akiyama was selected for cosmonaut training on August 17, 1989.  He was a Japanese TV journalist who flew the first commercial flight to Russia's Mir space station.

(On a commercial flight, you pay for a ticket.  It's a little like buying a plane ticket, but it costs millions of dollars.)

After cosmonaut training, he flew aboard a Soyuz spacecraft later in 1990.  He was the first person of Japanese nationality to have flown in space.  He was one of 163 candidates who had applied for the mission.

Akiyama spent a week aboard Mir, and he broadcast daily live reports documenting his experiences in orbit.

Toyohiro Akiyama

If you spent a week in space, what would you do?  Send me a note at

RamoneRocketeer -at- gmail -dot- com.