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 (ja|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 (ja|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 (ja|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 (ja|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 (ja|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 (ja|野口 聡一) born 15 April 1965 | 3 | 344 days 9 hours 33 minutes | 3 | 20 hours 05 minutes | Aeronautical engineer, flight specialist, flight engineer. | ||
7 | Akihiko Hoshide (ja|星出 彰彦) born 28 December 1968 | 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 (ja|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 (ja|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 (ja|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 (ja|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] (ja|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 (ja|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 (ja|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 | |