A Japanese astronaut and two other members of the International Space Station returned to Earth on Sunday after completing a nearly four-month mission, the Japanese and U.S. space agencies said.

Russian mission commander Anatoly Ivanishin and flight engineers Takuya Onishi, from Japan, and Kate Rubins, from the United States, landed in Kazakhstan aboard their Soyuz spacecraft about 10 a.m. local time.

"I've enjoyed (my stay in space). Now the air here tastes very good," Onishi told reporters with a smile after being helped out of the spacecraft.