is a Japanese

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 doctor and a JAXA

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The , or JAXA, is Japan's national aerospace agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on October 1, 2003, as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the...

 astronaut candidate.

He is a lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 and Diving Medical Officer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

The , or JMSDF, is the naval branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. It was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II....

 (Medical Service Division, 1st Service School).

Personal

He enjoys Aikido

Aikido

is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...

 and other Japanese traditional martial arts, scuba diving

Scuba diving

Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....

, and traveling.

He graduated from Toho High School, Chiba, Japan, in 1995. Received a doctorate in Medicine from National Defense Medical College

National Defense Medical College

The is Japan's six-year university-level military academy under control of the Ministry of Defense whose objectives are to train future military officers who are also medical doctors and current military doctors with advanced level of theory and application of medical sciences required to conduct...

 in 2002.

He is a member of the Japan Surgical Society, Japanese Society of Hyperbaric and Undersea Medicine.

Career

Kanai was commissioned from the National Defense Medical College in 2002. From 2002 to 2004, he worked in the Department of Surgery at the National Defense Medical College Hospital. In 2004, he was assigned to Japan Self Defense Force Ohminato Hospital, Aomori, Japan. He completed Diving Medicine Course and qualified as a Diving Medical Officer in 2004. He also completed U.S. Navy Diving Medical Officer’s Course as an international military student at the Naval Diving & Salvage Training Center, Florida, and qualified as a Navy diver in 2006. From 2006 to 2008, he worked in the Department of Surgery at the National Defense Medical College Hospital. He was transferred to Japan Self Defense Force Hospital Kure, Hiroshima, Japan, in 2008. Kanai worked at the JMSDF 1st Service School from June to September 2009.

JAXA career

After his selection as an astronaut candidate by JAXA in September 2009, Kanai arrived at the Johnson Space Center later that month for NASA training. As one of the 14 members of the 20th NASA astronaut class, he is currently participating in Astronaut Candidate Training which includes scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in ISS systems, Extravehicular Activity (EVA), robotics, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training.

External links

• Astronaut Bio: Norishige Kanai (09/2009)
• Spacefacts biography of Norishige Kanai