Japanese astronaut Makoto Suwa, 49. Photo: Jiji Press
Suwa, 49, a former World Bank employee, and former Japanese Red Cross Society doctor Ayu Yoneda, 30, were selected as astronaut candidates in 2023 in the first recruitment for the position by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, in 13 years.
They were certified as astronauts in October 2024 after completing basic training.
A Tokyo native, Suwa studied at the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Science and graduated from the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University's graduate school in June 2007.
After working for the World Meteorological Organization, he joined the World Bank in 2014, where he served as senior disaster risk management specialist.
