ASTRONAUTS from Japan

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Japanese Astronauts of all time. This list of famous Japanese Astronauts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Japanese Astronauts.

1. Toyohiro Akiyama (b. 1942)

With an HPI of 51.15, Toyohiro Akiyama is the most famous Japanese Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages on wikipedia.

Toyohiro Akiyama (秋山 豊寛, Akiyama Toyohiro, born 22 July 1942) is a retired Japanese TV journalist and professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design. In December 1990, he spent seven days aboard the Mir space station. He became the first person of Japanese nationality to fly in space, and his space mission was the second spaceflight to be commercially sponsored and funded. Akiyama was also the first civilian to fly aboard a commercial space flight and the first journalist to report from outer space.

2. Chiaki Mukai (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 49.50, Chiaki Mukai is the 2nd most famous Japanese Astronaut.  Her biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Chiaki Mukai (向井 千秋, Mukai Chiaki, born May 6, 1952) is a Japanese physician and JAXA astronaut. She was the first Japanese woman in space, the first Japanese citizen to have two spaceflights, and the first Asian woman in space. Both were Space Shuttle missions; her first was STS-65 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in July 1994, which was a Spacelab mission. Her second spaceflight was STS-95 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998. In total she has spent 23 days in space. Mukai was selected to be an astronaut by Japanese national space agency NASDA (now called JAXA) in 1985. Prior to this, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Keio University, the oldest university in Japan. In 2015, she became Vice President of the Tokyo University of Science. In addition, she became JAXA Technical Counselor.

3. Satoshi Furukawa (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 47.69, Satoshi Furukawa is the 3rd most famous Japanese Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Satoshi Furukawa (古川 聡, Furukawa Satoshi, born April 4, 1964) is a Japanese surgeon and JAXA astronaut. Furukawa was assigned to the International Space Station as a flight engineer on long-duration missions Expedition 28/29 (2011) and Expedition 69/70 (2023-2024).

4. Mamoru Mohri (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 47.29, Mamoru Mohri is the 4th most famous Japanese Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Mamoru "Mark" Mohri, (Japanese: 毛利 衛, romanized: Mōri Mamoru; born 29 January 1948) is a Japanese scientist, a former NASDA astronaut, and a veteran of two NASA Space Shuttle missions. He is the first Japanese astronaut who was part of an official Japanese space program. The first Japanese person in space, Toyohiro Akiyama, was a journalist who was trained in the Soviet Union.

5. Koichi Wakata (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 46.12, Koichi Wakata is the 5th most famous Japanese Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Koichi Wakata (若田 光一, Wakata Kōichi, born 1 August 1963) is a Japanese engineer and an astronaut working for Axiom Space. He retired from JAXA in 2024. Wakata is a veteran of four NASA Space Shuttle missions, a Russian Soyuz mission, and a long-duration stay on the International Space Station. During a nearly two-decade career in spaceflight, he has logged more than five hundred days in space. During Expedition 39, he became the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station. Wakata flew on the Soyuz TMA-11M/Expedition 38/Expedition 39 long duration spaceflight from 7 November 2013 to 13 May 2014. During this spaceflight he was accompanied by Kirobo, the first humanoid robot astronaut.

6. Takao Doi (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 45.75, Takao Doi is the 6th most famous Japanese Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Takao Doi (土井 隆雄, Doi Takao, born September 18, 1954) is a Japanese astronaut, engineer and veteran of two NASA Space Shuttle missions.

7. Soichi Noguchi (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 44.47, Soichi Noguchi is the 7th most famous Japanese Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Soichi Noguchi (野口 聡一, Noguchi Sōichi, born 15 April 1965) is a Japanese aeronautical engineer and former JAXA astronaut. His first spaceflight was as a mission specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA's first "return to flight" Space Shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster. He was also in space as part of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and Expedition 22 to the International Space Station (ISS), returning to Earth on 2 June 2010. He is the sixth Japanese astronaut to fly in space, the fifth to fly on the Space Shuttle, and the first to fly on Crew Dragon. His third flight was on board the Dragon 2 capsule for the SpaceX Crew-1 mission which launched successfully on 15 November 2020 and landed on 2 May 2021. This makes him the third astronaut to fly on three different launch systems. He became a part-time lecturer at the graduate school of the University of Tokyo since 2011, a project professor since 2021. As of 2022, he is a project professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Nihon University. He retired from astronaut duty and quit JAXA on 1 June 2022. He assumed the honorary director of CupNoodles Museum since 7 June 2022, the chief executive fellow of the Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies and the advisor of IHI Corporation since 1 July 2022. He is the representative of MiraiSpace Co., Ltd. (合同会社未来圏).

8. Akihiko Hoshide (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 44.46, Akihiko Hoshide is the 8th most famous Japanese Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Akihiko Hoshide (星出 彰彦, Hoshide Akihiko, born December 28, 1968) is a Japanese engineer, JAXA astronaut, and former commander of the International Space Station. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space.

9. Naoko Yamazaki (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 41.09, Naoko Yamazaki is the 9th most famous Japanese Astronaut.  Her biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Naoko Yamazaki (山崎 直子, Yamazaki Naoko, born December 27, 1970) is a Japanese engineer and former astronaut at JAXA. She was the second Japanese woman to fly in space. The first was Chiaki Mukai.

10. Kimiya Yui (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 37.57, Kimiya Yui is the 10th most famous Japanese Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Kimiya Yui (油井 亀美也, Yui Kimiya, born January 30, 1970 in Kawakami, Nagano, Japan) is a Japanese astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). He was selected for the agency in 2009.