Mamoru Mohri is known as Japan's first payload specialist and was a crew member aboard the U.S. shuttle Endeavor on its first space flight in 1992, but what is less well known is his enthusiasm for aerobics.
His first encounter with aerobics dates back to 1984, only two years after it became popular in Japan, and he once won a local contest in the United States.
Presently, about 6 million Japanese regularly engage in aerobics, which consists of energetic exercises, often practiced to music, with the aim of making the heart, lungs and muscles stronger and increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood.
Japan is said to have the world's largest number of aerobics practitioners, totaling about 25,000, and Japanese have won aerobics competitions around the world almost annually.