spacetoday.net: Japanese businessman to be next space tourist

Posted: Fri, Nov 4, 2005, 8:04 AM ET (1304 GMT)
Daisuke Enomoto (Dice-K.com)

A Japanese entrepreneur has signed a deal to fly on a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station, space tourism company Space Adventures announced Thursday. Daisuke Enomoto, who also goes by the moniker Dice-K, will fly on a Soyuz taxi flight to the ISS in October 2006. Enomoto, 34, was one of the top executives with a Japanese IT company, Livedoor, during a period of significant growth starting in the late 1990s. Enomoto had been widely reported as likely being the next private citizen to fly to the station, although the timing of his trip was not certain. On Friday, Enomoto confirmed earlier statements that he would like to wear a costume on the flight to resemble a character from the Japanese anime series Gundam.