Toyohiro Akiyama, who made history in December 1990 as the first Japanese citizen, first commercially-sponsored cosmonaut, and first journalist to fly into space, died on August 26, 2026, at the age of 84. His historic commercial mission aboard the Soviet Mir space station was funded by the Tokyo Broadcasting System to mark its 40th anniversary.
From Washington Bureau Chief to Soyuz TM-11 Passenger
His path to orbit began when the Tokyo Broadcasting System seized an opportunity with the Soviet Union, which had started offering spaceflights in exchange for hard currency. More than 150 employees applied for the flight. Akiyama emerged as the primary candidate after rigorous training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, located outside Moscow.
On December 2, 1990, Akiyama lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Soyuz U2 rocket alongside Viktor Afanasyev and Musa Manarov. Two days later, the spacecraft docked with the Mir space station, marking the first time a civilian flew on a commercial space mission.
Candid Broadcasts and the ‘Space Antihero’
During his week-long stay on Mir, Akiyama broadcasted daily audio and video reports back to Japan, recording ten minutes of video and two twenty-minute audio spots each day for the network’s To the Universe broadcasts. At the start of one live transmission, he famously asked, Am I on air?
Akiyama struggled initially with space adaptation syndrome and nicotine withdrawal, having been a chain smoker before the flight. His early dispatches were remarkably candid and pessimistic. He described the waters surrounding Japan as very muddy
and remarked that thin Japanese frogs act as if they would rather be back in Yokohama, referring to an experiment involving Japanese tree frogs sent aloft to study weightlessness. Those blunt observations earned him the nickname the space antihero
from The New York Times.
As his mission continued, Akiyama softened his tone, apologizing for his earlier pessimism and sharing striking footage of Mount Fuji. He noted that most of Japan looked like it had moss covering it, except for Hokkaido, which reminded him of kelp.
Toyohiro Akiyama stated in a 2021 interview via NHK that the Earth was truly beautiful when viewed from space, adding that he felt messages from nature, including the starry sky and the darkness of space, which made him reflect on how he ought to live upon returning to Earth.
Akiyama returned to Earth on December 10, 1990, touching down on the steppe of Kazakhstan aboard Soyuz TM-10 with cosmonauts Gennady Manakov and Gennady Strekalov.
Transition to Organic Farming and Later Academic Career
Seeking a deeper connection to the fundamentals of human existence, he moved to the town of Takine in Fukushima Prefecture to work as an organic rice and mushroom farmer.
Toyohiro Akiyama reflected in a 2013 interview with The Japan Times by asking what the most fundamental human activity was, pointing to eating, and questioning how farmers viewed the food they cultivated as well as the part rice farming played in Japanese history, concluding that he felt he could not pass away without grasping some foundational knowledge about those matters.
That farming career was abruptly interrupted by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, and the subsequent meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Forced to evacuate due to radiation risks, Akiyama relocated to Kyoto.
In November 2011, he began teaching agriculture at the Kyoto University of Art and Design, serving as a professor until March 2023. He later retired to Odai in Mie Prefecture.
Reflecting on his decades in media and his later pivot to education, Akiyama frequently urged younger generations to cultivate independent critical thinking. He passed away on August 26, 2026, from lower gastrointestinal bleeding, with close relatives attending his funeral.
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