At a press
conference in January 1999, veteran astronaut John Glenn referred to his colleague Mukai
Chiaki as the person most likely to win a sumo tournament in outer space. Not because of
her figure though, he hastily explained. "She has more energy than anyone I know
of."
Energy is one way to sum up the dynamic 46 year-old Chiaki Mukai, who has accumulated more
awards in her life than seems possible. In fact, there is now a national award named after
her.
Born May 6, 1952 in Gunma prefecture, she successfully entered the prestigious Keio High
School for Girls and moved to Tokyo. After graduating, she studied medicine at Keio
University, receiving her doctorate in 1977. There followed two residencies in General
Surgery, one in Shizuoka and one in Kanagawa, after which she returned to Keio University
Hospital to specialize in cardiovascular surgery. It was at Keio that she met her husband,
fellow doctor Mukai Makio, whom she married in 1982. In the mid-eighties she was promoted
to first chief resident, and then assistant professor in the Keio Department of
cardiovascular surgery.
In 1985, Mukai received her call to the stars. She was nominated and then selected by the
National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) as a payload specialist for the
International Micro Gravity Laboratory, on board the space shuttle Columbia. She was flown
to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Texas in 1987, to begin training. Her first flight was
in July 1994, during which she took part in many physiological experiments in zero
gravity, logging 353 hours in orbit and becoming the first female Japanese astronaut.
The second flight came in October-November 1998 on board the Discovery, in which she
served with John Glenn, the former American senator and oldest living astronaut. The two
sparked up a warm and very respectful working relationship, later speaking of how deeply
they were impressed by each other' personal qualities. Although still a visiting
professor of Keio University Hospital, Mukai is currently based at the Johnson Space
Center and is also a Research Instructor at the Department of Surgery of Baylor College of
Medicine, Texas.
Although the full benefits of space shuttle research have yet to filter through to the
general public, Mukai Chiaki is heralded by the Japanese authorities as a triumph of
personal determination, courage and hard work. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government recently
"borrowed" her image for an advertising campaign promoting environmental
awareness, with a cute cartoon Mukai in the newspapers saying "Let's Make Tokyo an
Eco-City."
Her personal achievements are doubtlessly impressive and she is frequently held up as an
inspiration to others. But an inspiration to do what exactly is not made clear. While in
orbit on the Discovery, she initiated a competition to finish a traditional tanka poem of
which she had written the first three lines, a poem on the subject of weightlessness.
Following this, with the eyes of the world's media trained upon her, she united Japan's
youth in another competition - to choose a name for her toy teddy bear.
Mukai Chiaki as an image of modern Japan: flying high, or simply lost in space?
At a press
conference in January 1999, veteran astronaut John Glenn referred to his colleague Mukai
Chiaki as the person most likely to win a sumo tournament in outer space. Not because of
her figure though, he hastily explained. "She has more energy than anyone I know
of." 
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