Satoshi Furukawa

Satoshi Furukawa (古川 聡, Furukawa Satoshi, born April 4, 1964) is a Japanese surgeon and a JAXA astronaut.

Personal

Furukawa was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. He enjoys baseball, bowling, music and traveling. He is married and has two children.

Medical career

He graduated from Eiko high school, Kamakura, in 1983; received a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Tokyo in 1989, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Medical Science from the same school in 2000.

From 1989 to 1999, Furukawa worked in the Department of Surgery at the University of Tokyo, as well as the Department of Anesthesiology at JR Tokyo General Hospital, the Department of Surgery at Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital and at Sakuragaoka Hospital.

NASDA/JAXA career

In February 1999, Furukawa was selected by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) as one of three Japanese astronaut candidates for the International Space Station (ISS). He started the ISS Astronaut Basic Training program in April 1999 and was certified as an astronaut in January 2001.