Toyohiro Akiyama, First Japanese Citizen and Journalist in Space, Dies at 84

Pioneering Space Journalist

Toyohiro Akiyama, a correspondent for the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), made history as the first Japanese citizen to journey into space. He was also recognized as the world's first journalist to file reports from orbit and the first commercially sponsored cosmonaut. Akiyama passed away on August 26 at the age of 84 due to lower gastrointestinal bleeding.

Mission to Mir

Akiyama was selected from 162 TBS employees for the space mission, which commemorated the network's 40th anniversary. After training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, he launched aboard Soyuz TM-11 on December 2, 1990, alongside Soviet cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev and Musa Manarov. The Soyuz U2 rocket carried Japanese flag and company advertisements, including Sony.

Following a nine-minute ascent and a two-day rendezvous, the crew arrived at the Mir space station. Akiyama's stay on Mir lasted one week, during which he produced daily 10-minute video and 20-minute audio broadcasts for TBS, titled 'To the Universe'.

Early Challenges and Observations

During the initial phase of his mission, Akiyama experienced space adaptation syndrome and nicotine withdrawal, which affected his early reports. He described the water around Japan as 'very muddy' and noted that only 'fat' tree frogs from Japan seemed to enjoy weightlessness, contrasting them with 'thin Japanese frogs' that appeared to prefer being in Yokohama.

Despite initial negative sentiments, Akiyama later apologized for his attitude and shared positive observations, including footage of Mount Fuji. He remarked that most of Japan 'looks like it has moss all over,' with the exception of Hokkaido, which he described as looking 'like delicious kelp'.