Japan's First Man in Space Now Fukushima Evacuee
By wchung | 03 May, 2025

The first Japanese to fly into space is now reduced to roaming earth in the truck in which he evacuated from his Fukushima Prefecture farm after the nuclear crisis, according to a report in Asahi Shimbun.

Toyohiro Akiyama, 69, was a TV journalist working as chief of the Washington bureau of Tokyo Broadcasting System when he blasted off on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to spend a week aboard the Mir space station broadcasting daily live reports. Five years later he took early retirement.

“I used my retirement pay to buy the farmland and build a house,” said Akiyama. “I feel as though a robber has taken everything from me.”

Akiyama built an organic rice farm in Tamura in Fukushima Prefecture near the Abukuma mountain range. He also cultivated mushrooms which eventually became his main source of income.

On March 12, the day after the quake and tsunami, Akiyama packed a suitcase and fled his farm 32 kilometers (20 miles) from the Fukushima No. 1 plant. The house was outside the evacuation zone but Akiyama distrusted the central government’s assessment of safety. Even as he drove away from the farm he was alerted by the small Geiger counter hanging from his neck.

“I bought the device for emergencies, but I never thought the day would come when it would be of help,” he said.

Akiyama first fled about 50 kilometers (31 miles) to a hot springs inn in the outskirts of Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture. He later moved to Gunma and Nagano prefectures before renting a house along the mountains in Fujioka, Gunma Prefecture.

In October he returned to inspect his farm. A friend who had stayed on at his farm nearby told Akiyama that cesium had been detected in the rice though the level was below government safety standards.

“The nuclear accident contaminated the expansive forests of Abukuma and spread radioactive materials into the Earth’s atmosphere and waters,” said Akiyama, his anger showing.

He recently received an offer to teach at the Kyoto University of Art and Design. He plans to move to Kyoto Prefecture next year and grow bamboo shoots. But even there he won’t be far from the specter of another nuclear disaster. Nearby Wakasa Bay in neighboring Fukui Prefecture houses several nuclear facilities, including the Oi and Mihama nuclear power plants.

“In today’s Japan, no matter where you go there is always a nuclear plant nearby,” says Akiyama.

He has written a book on his experiences which went on sale on December 7.