Akihiko Hoshide Talks Japanese Space Culture

Tokyo-born Akihiko Hoshide, 39, blasted off on his first space flight on May 31, 2008, on a 14-day mission to deliver Japan's research laboratory, Kibo, to the International Space Station. Discovery News' Irene Klotz caught up with Hoshide a few weeks before launch at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

IK: What do you think that Japan as a culture brings to the universe of space?

AH: Maybe harmony. As a culture, we do feel strongly about making harmony. In working together or going out and enjoying ourselves, any situation harmony is a key word to our culture. For the space station program, we bring up a big module, probably the largest module for the space station, but not just that. It's being an international partner to contribute toward the space program itself ... I think this is the first step for us, for the human space flight in Japan. It's a big step. I'm hoping that in the future we'll continue this cooperation amongst all the agencies it the world and hoping that Japan can contribute toward making harmony.

IK: In the press conference, you said you didn't speak Japanese that well. Were you just kidding? Are you perfectly fluent in Japanese?

AH: (Laughing) I am ... I hope I am.

IK: Do you dream in Japanese as well as English?

AH: Oh that's a good question ... I don't know. I have to think about that. After growing up in New Jersey, I spent the next 10 years or so in Japan. Although we do study English in school, you tend to forget, so I think at that time everything was in Japanese in my mind. When I was in high school, I went to Singapore and I did get back to speaking English, but I had to struggle a little bit to catch up. One night in my dreams, I started thinking in English, and I didn't realize it right away but a couple of days from that I thought, 'Wow, I'm starting to think in English not in Japanese and translating,' so I think it's the environment. For now, at home I speak Japanese. At work, I speak English. It's like two channels in my mind and I don't really think about what language I'm thinking about.

IK: Are you hoping for a long-duration flight?

AH: Yes, everything. Long-duration and then hopefully moon, Mars. I don't know what our agency will decide on, but I'm hoping.

IK: How many astronauts does JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) have?

AH: Right now we have eight in the corps. Six of us are all just waiting for our turns (to fly.)

IK: In this day and age when people are losing their homes to foreclosure, what do you think about this huge expenditure and the risk of space flight that makes it worthwhile?

AH: Building roads costs money. Doing research costs money. It's just another approach to expand our boundaries. I would not debate this is good or bad. I think it's a balance. In my mind, I think it's a good balance of budget that people spend money on space programs. I'm not saying that other things are not important. They are important. It's just a matter of keeping a good balance among everything.

IK: Your colleague Takai Doi treated his crewmates with Japanese foods which were a huge hit on the last shuttle flight. Are you bringing along any special foods?

AH: Unfortunately, we can't pack a whole lot because we've got a heavy payload in the (shuttle's) payload bay so we're limited in volume and space. I'm bringing some snacks we can share among the crew, particularly the station crew ... some yakitori. No sushi, unfortunately.

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