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 three occasions : Soichi Noguchi and Naoko Yamazaki from 5 April 2010 to 20 April 2010 Soichi Noguchi and Akihiko Hoshide from 23 April 2021 to 2 May 2021 Takuya Onishi and Kimiya Yui from 2 August 2025 to 7 August 2025
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()born 22 July 1942 Soyuz TM-11, 1990-12-02 - 1990-12-10 1 7 days 21 hours 54 minutes 0 0The 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()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 0The first Japanese astronaut of an official Japanese space program, Doctor of Science in Chemistry, Payload specialist, specialist in flying. 3 Chiaki Mukai()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 0The first female astronaut of Japan, cardiosurgeon, specialist in payload. 4 Koichi Wakata()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 minutesFlight specialist, flight engineer, commander of ISS-39. 5 Takao Doi()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 minutesDoctor of Science in aerospace engineering Doctor of Astronomy; specialist in flying. 6 Soichi Noguchi()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 minutesAeronautical engineer, flight specialist, flight engineer. 7 Akihiko Hoshide()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 minutesFlight specialist, flight engineer. 8 Naoko Yamazaki()born 27 December 1970 Discovery STS-131, 2010-04-05 - 2010-04-20 1 15 days 02 hours 47 minutes 0 0Aeronautical engineer, specialist in flying. 9 Satoshi Furukawa()born 4 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 0Surgeon, flight engineer. 10 Kimiya Yui()born 30 January 1970 Soyuz TMA-17M, ISS-44, 45, 2015-07-22 - 2015-12-11 SpaceX Crew-11, ISS-73 / 74, 2025-07-31 - Present 2 0 0Colonel of the Air Force of Japan, flight engineer. 11 Takuya Onishi()born 22 December 1975 Soyuz MS-01, ISS-48, ISS49, 2016-07-07 - 2016-10-30SpaceX Crew-10, ISS-72, ISS-73, 2025-03-14 - 2025-08-09 2 0 0 Flight engineer. 12 Norishige Kanai ()born 5 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 minutesDoctor, flight engineer. 13 Yusaku Maezawa()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()born 1985 Soyuz MS-20, 2021-12-08 - 2021-12-20 1 11 days 10 hours 9 minutes 0 0 Space tourist
Future flights # Name Photo Mission(s) (dates) Launch times Total duration Spacewalk times Spacewalk duration Notes
References
See also Japanese space program JAXA Ellison Onizuka Daniel M. Tani
External links https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/en/astronaut/ https://global.jaxa.jp/projects/iss_human/astro/