If Jeff Bezos and William Shatner can go to space, surely someone can get Hideo Kojima there, too. He would really, really like to go. While hosting a recent press screening for Last Night in Soho, the game creator once again underscored his desire to be an astronaut.
According to Oricon, while talking about dreams, Kojima said, “I want to be an astronaut.”
“JAXA [Japan’s version of NASA] is taking applications, and I think about what I should do,” he added. “Since I’d have to ditch my job that’s something that I worry about.”
This isn’t the first time Kojima has talked about his desire to go into space. As Vice points out, the game creator talked about his dream to be an astronaut in a 2009 essay that was recently published in his book The Creative Gene:
If I could have just one wish in my life—if I could cast a magic spell and make anything come true—without hesitation, it would be this: ‘I wish to go to space before I die.’ It doesn’t have to be anything as extravagant as a trip to the moon or Mars. I would be satisfied with only a brief orbit, just beyond Earth’s atmosphere, where I can gently brush against outer space. I would give up anything to make that wish come true: my current place as a game designer, which I’ve built up for forty-five years; I’m even prepared to throw away my family or my own life. That is how powerfully I—or rather we—yearn for the cosmos.
Kojima would give up anything to make that happen, including his current position in the game industry, and would be totally happy with a brief space orbit! He doesn’t need to go to the Moon or Mars—just beyond the Earth’s atmosphere is a-okay with him. Can’t some billionaire take Hideo Kojima into space? He’d definitely have a nice time! Make it happen.