List of Japanese astronauts

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
  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.