Chiaki Mukai (向井 千秋) was the first Japanese woman in space. She was also the first person from Japan to fly to space twice. Her first trip was on the Space Shuttle Columbia in July 1994 and her second was on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998.
Before becoming an astronaut she was an assistant professor in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Keio University, which is the oldest in Japan.
The Illustrationist 