Autumn Moon Vol. 48: Japan's Space Exploration 2025

Years ago, I stumbled upon a 2002 issue of BRUTUS in Jimbocho titled "2020: This Time, a Serious Trip to the Moon!" Riding the wave of Japanese astronauts venturing into space, it envisioned a "Nine-Day Lunar Tour" departing from Narita Airport in 20 years. Treating a moon journey as a magazine feature, it earnestly analyzed the future of space development with a touch of playful humor. For me, who had just founded Autumn Moon back then, it was incredibly exhilarating. Holding that slightly worn old magazine, I squatted by the roadside, on the verge of tears, thinking, "This kind of imaginative yet grounded feature that expands readers' horizons is precisely what a magazine should do!" Thus, a "Space Special" became a dream theme for our editorial team, something we've wanted to revisit every few years. Unknowns, insufficient capabilities, limited budgets, and immature timing have always prevented this topic from coming to fruition. Thinking about it, isn't this just like humanity's journey of space exploration? Leapfrogging development is always challenging, but astronauts aspiring to reach the moon, scientists seeking to unravel interstellar mysteries, and thinkers wanting to understand the origins of life in the galaxy—even before technology is fully developed—shine endlessly like stars, never absent. You don't know its beginning, nor can you see its end. The only certainty is this beam of light traversing time, utterly captivating. I believe this is one of the reasons humanity is so fascinated by the universe. In 2018, renowned entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa became the first Japanese person to fund his own trip to the space station, initiating a plan to gather artists for a lunar mission. This reignited the editorial team's desire to produce a special feature. With the cancellation of this plan in 2023 due to rocket development technicalities, we were compelled to pause and ponder: "When will we truly be able to venture into the unknown universe?" Time has moved forward. Manga artist Uozaki, with his work "Chi. -Regarding the Movement of the Earth-," became the youngest recipient of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, and this work once again ignited the editorial team's cosmic dream, resonating with our innate drive to seek truth and our desire for people to participate in that quest. Just as the manga narrates the story of collective human will despite repeated setbacks in the history of confronting truth and technology, we bravely took the first step, sending our inaugural interview invitation to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). After nearly a decade of countless launch failures, our "Japan's Space Exploration 2025" special feature has finally landed on our dream. This issue responds to the aspirations for space development from 2002, venturing to the JAXA Tsukuba Space Center in Ibaraki Prefecture, reviewing Japan's space development progress, connecting with Taiwan's TASA National Space Organization, analyzing how Japan-Taiwan aerospace collaboration aids human survival, and exclusively interviewing Uozaki to deeply discuss his "way of seeing the world." As he puts it, "Science is the evolution of an era, philosophy is the accumulated thought of humanity. Towards exploring the universe, we should maintain a gentle heart." "We choose to go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard." U.S. President John F. Kennedy declared this resolve for space development in his famous "We Choose to Go to the Moon" speech in 1962. On the 70th anniversary of Japan's first rocket launch, we have arrived at the right moment. Although the "Nine-Day Lunar Tour" of 2020 hasn't materialized, isn't the universe precisely like this? Difficult and unwilling to be easily conquered by humans, yet darkness and light will always coexist.