In April 1981,/immediately after entering senior high school,/an event that changed my life happened.// It was the launch of the space shuttle Columbia.// For the first time,/I became conscious of actually making the career choice/to become an astronaut.// One day,/my parents bought me a book/on American astronauts/who had experienced going into space.// Their lives were not always happy.// I wonder/why reading such a book in high school/further encouraged me/to aim at becoming an astronaut.// I may have thought/that the life of an astronaut would be/as thrilling as in the book.// The average person probably has an exciting image of astronauts even now.// In fact,/it is a down-to-earth job.// Astronauts are expected/to complete each task without fail,/quietly checking conditions all the time.// We never do anything/without first planning very carefully.//
　In high school,/I wrote “astronaut”/in the blank for my future career.// I still remember.// At the University of Tokyo,/I entered the Department of Aerospace Engineering/and researched aircraft engines.// After finishing graduate school,/I joined a company/that was making jet engines.// I married/three years after that.// My dream of space was interrupted then.//
　One day,/my wife told me/about an astronaunt position advertised by NASDA,/currently JAXA,/in an in-house newsletter.// I was happy at work,/and was busy every day.// At that time,/I was thinking of studying abroad,/so I hesitated.// But the recruitment of astronauts is not posted often,/only when needed.// If I missed this opportunity,/nobody knew/when the next one would come.// So,/I decided/to challenge myself.// I passed the first, second, and third tests,/and on the morning of May 29, 1996,/I received a call.// It was from Mohri Mamoru,/an astronaut.// He congratulated me.// After that,/I trained for nearly ten years/to become an astronaut.//
　The scenery of space is completely different/when you are working outside the spacecraft/doing extravehicular activities,/compared with that through the shuttle window.// Looking with your own eyes/through the window,/space is a beautiful picture.// Outside the shuttle,/the earth continuously changes/with the reflected light.// The earth looks so real/— as if you could touch it!// I thought/that the earth itself was alive then.//