Toyohiro Akiyama pressed his face against the glass of the small, round window on his space module and gazed down at Earth from 350 kilometers above. He recognized the shape of Japan below him, a familiar sight transformed. From this height, the land appeared covered in a blanket of green, like moss, with Hokkaido standing out like a “delicious” mass of kelp.
Akiyama was soaring through the thin upper atmosphere aboard the Russian space station Mir. He was the first Japanese citizen in space. But Akiyama wasn’t an astronaut; he was a journalist for the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS). Indeed, he was the first civilian ever to fly aboard a commercial space mission and the first journalist to report from outer space.
Japan had long aspired to send a citizen into space, with efforts beginning in the early 1980s. Without its own rocket technology or expertise, the Japanese space agency initially sought opportunities aboard the American Space Shuttle. But the Challenger disaster in 1986 brought manned missions to a standstill, delaying Japan’s ambitions.
Frustrated by the slow progress of U.S. space initiatives, the Tokyo Broadcasting System seized an opportunity with the Soviet Union, which had started offering spaceflights in exchange for hard currency. In a bold move, TBS orchestrated what became the largest publicity stunt in Japanese television history. By placing a journalist aboard the four-year-old Mir, the network aimed for a stellar boost in ratings. And it cost them $12 million.
On December 2, 1990, Akiyama blasted into space aboard the Soyuz TM-11 rocket along with mission commander Viktor Afanasyev and flight engineer Musa Manarov. It was the first time someone other than a pilot, or a scientist, or an engineer had gone to space. It was also the first time a space agency was selling seats on a space flight, heralding the dawn of commercialization of space. The rocket itself was emblematic of this shift, adorned with logos from Japanese sponsors, including a pharmaceutical company and a sanitary napkin manufacturer. Other sponsors, including Minolta Camera and a maker of karaoke equipment had their messages painted on the launching pad. Others vied for space on the astronauts' T-shirts.
From left to right: Toyohiro Akiyama, mission commander Viktor Afanasyev and flight engineer Musa Manarov.
This achievement wasn’t universally celebrated. The Japanese government, disappointed that the honour of sending the first Japanese citizen to space went to a private broadcaster rather than its national space agency, viewed the event with a mix of pride and discontent. Their long-standing partnership with NASA made Akiyama's choice of a Soviet spacecraft a politically awkward moment. The Western media, meanwhile, added its own derision, mocking Akiyama as a “space tourist” and painting him as an unlikely hero, highlighting his fondness for whiskey and cigarettes over the athleticism typically associated with astronauts.
Akiyama’s journey began with a rigorous selection process. Among the 163 applications from the broadcaster’s employees, two finalists emerged: Ryoko Kikuchi, a 26-year-old camerawoman, whose hobbies included mountain climbing, cycling, and skiing,, and Akiyama, a 48-year-old senior editor with a gruelling work schedule and heavy smoking habit. When Kikuchi had to withdraw due to a medical issue, this middle-aged, over-the-hill salaryman found himself with the responsibility of carrying the entirety of TBS’ multimillion dollar investment on his shoulders.
As Akiyama underwent strenuous training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Moscow, Tokyo Broadcasting System aired videos of the would-be space traveller's efforts to meet the Soviets' demanding standards. But once in orbit, Akiyama was quick to admit that, despite his year and a half of rigorous preparation, he might not have entirely had "the right stuff."
Akiyama spent the vast majority of the eight-day flight plagued by space sickness so severe that one of his fellow cosmonauts remarked that he “hadn’t ever seen a man vomit that much.” A habitual chain smoker before training, Akiyama had drastically reduced his four-pack-a-day habit, eventually quitting altogether in preparation for his smokeless time aboard Mir. Yet in orbit, he openly longed for a cigarette, famously stating that the first thing he looked forward to upon his return was a smoke.
Akiyama made daily scheduled broadcasts from Mir, describing life aboard the space station and his struggles as a reluctant astronaut. “I wish I had brought along some natto,” he mused during dinnertime. Natto is smelly, fermented soybeans that even many Japanese say they cannot bring themselves to swallow.
Akiyama also reported on the experiments being carried out on Mir, such as the one with green tree frogs, sent aloft as an experiment for schoolchildren. Akiyama reported that the the thinner ones struggled while the heavier ones seemed to thrive.
“Fat Japanese frogs in space love the feeling of weightlessness. Thin Japanese frogs act as if they would rather be back in Yokohama,” Akiyama quipped.
Toyohiro Akiyama as in 2013.
Despite an aggressive marketing campaign and a very enthusiastic response from the TBS officials, the broadcaster's ambitious goals of permanently grabbing a bigger slice of the country’s television market failed to materialize. While the initial broadcasts of Toyohiro Akiyama’s space mission attracted a surge in viewership, the novelty quickly wore off. By the middle of the week, ratings had dropped to just above the network’s normal levels.
“The attention span of the average Japanese viewer watching the exploits of their first countryman in space is about 10 minutes long,” Akiyama lamented. “They tend to switch the channel when the topic turns, as it has most nights, to the difficulties of ridding oneself of bodily wastes in zero gravity.”
Akiyama returned back to earth after eight days in space. Upon getting out of the capsule, he reportedly asked for a beer and a cigarette.
Toyohiro Akiyama currently resides in Japan, where he has shifted his focus to environmental and agricultural education. After leaving his journalism career in 1995, he began organic farming in Fukushima Prefecture. Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, which forced him to abandon his farm, he transitioned to academia. Since November 2011, Akiyama has been a professor specializing in agriculture at the Kyoto University of Art and Design. His work emphasizes sustainability, and he has written extensively about environmental issues and space exploration.
References:
# Soviets Send First Japanese, a Journalist, Into Space, NY Times
# Soyuz TM-11: First journalist in space", SEN.com
# Japan’s Forgotten First Astronaut, Neo Japonisme
# A Japanese Innovation: The Space Antihero, NY Times
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