Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama conversed with Mr. Soichi Noguchi, an astronaut who is at the International Space Station (ISS), at the Prime Minister's Office.

Astronaut Noguchi is on a long-term five-month mission on the ISS, having been transported there in a Russian Soyuz TMA-17 space ship launched last December.

With Mr. Satoshi Furukawa, an astronaut, acting as moderator, Prime Minister Hatoyama, together with students from Hamasuka Elementary School in Chigasaki City, the alma mater of Astronaut Noguchi, conversed with him for approximately 25 minutes.