Japan ASTRONAUT Toyohiro Akiyama Hand Signed Official Photo Autograph TBS

Description

Akiyama Toyohiro
, (born July 22, 1942, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese journalist and television reporter, the first Japanese citizen and the first journalist to travel into space. Akiyama was also the first fare-paying civilian passenger (nonprofessional astronaut) to participate in a spaceflight.
Akiyama earned his bachelor’s degree at the International Christian University in
Mitaka
(near
Tokyo
). In 1966 he joined the
Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), a Japanese television company, as a reporter. After working for the
British Broadcasting Corporation
World Service in London for four years (1967–71), he was transferred to the TBS Division of Foreign News and eventually served as the chief TBS correspondent in Washington, D.C., for four years (1984–88). In
August
1989 Akiyama was selected for
cosmonaut
training for a commercial flight to the Soviet
Mir
space station
. His journey was sponsored by TBS. The exact terms of the deal were not revealed, but the Soviets claimed to have received million (other estimates are in the range of – million), and the total expense of the trip and the ensuing broadcast for TBS is thought to have exceeded million. It was the first commercial spaceflight in
history
.
The photo is hand signed.
Absolutely original.
Big size.
Obtained from the private collection of one of the modern cosmonauts.