Toyohiro Akiyama


Toyohiro Akiyama is a Japanese TV journalist best known for his flight to the Mir space station aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1990. Akiyama is the first person of Japanese nationality to have flown in space. He was known as the "Space Journalist" in Japan.

Education and career

Akiyama attended and earned his bachelor's degree at the International Christian University located in Mitaka, Tokyo. He then joined the Tokyo Broadcasting System as a journalist in 1966. He worked for the BBC World Service from 1967-1971 before becoming a correspondent for the TBS Division of Foreign News. From 1984 to 1988, Akiyama served as TBS chief correspondent in Washington D.C.

Spaceflight

Akiyama was selected for cosmonaut training in August 1989 in a deal between TBS and the Soviet Union. Akiyama's flight became the first commercially organized spaceflight in history. 163 TBS employees had applied for the opportunity to fly. Eventually, Akiyama and camerawoman Ryoko Kikuchi were selected as the two final candidates. When Kikuchi developed a case of appendicitis a week before launch, Akiyama was selected as the primary crew member, with no backup in place.
After successfully completing a Research Cosmonaut training course at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in present-day Russia, Akiyama launched aboard the Soyuz TM-11 mission to the Mir space station on 2 December 1990 along with mission commander Viktor Afanasyev and flight engineer Musa Manarov. During his time aboard Mir, Akiyama gave live reports each day documenting life aboard the station. He returned just over a week later aboard Soyuz TM-10 along with Gennadi Manakov and Gennadi Strekalov on 10 December. Akiyama's mission marked the first flight of a person of Japanese descent in space as well as the first commercially sponsored and funded spaceflight of an individual in history.
Various reports have cited a flight cost paid by TBS as between and. The company reportedly lost on the deal.

Later career and retirement

Akiyama returned to TBS after completing his spaceflight and became deputy director of the TBS News Division. He then retired from TBS in 1995.
Akiyama is married and has two children.
He was personally affected by the Fukushima disaster and had to abandon his farm.