Koichi Wakata, who served as the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station, returned to Earth on May 14 after completing his fourth space mission. He reached the spacecraft in November, became its 39th commander on March 9 — the first Asian to head the space station — and safely operated the spacecraft for 66 days.
We congratulate Wakata on his achievements as an astronaut. Since he first boarded Space Shuttle Endeavor as a mission specialist in January 1996, his total time in space across four space trips has amounted to 348 days, the longest for a Japanese and followed by Soichi Noguchi's 177 days.
Wakata took part in the development of a robot arm and other equipment used in space and participated in the construction of the ISS as a robot arm operator. But apart from Wakata's achievements, Japan needs to consider whether its participation in the ISS project has produced benefits that justify the large amount of money it has spent.