SILICON VALLEY: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on Thursday announced eight crew members who will join his trip around the moon, scheduled for 2023.

Among the eight are Japanese-American DJ Steve Aoki, 45, and Choi Seung-hyun, 35, better known as T.O.P of South Korean all-male music group Big Bang.

Maezawa, the founder of online fashion mall operator Zozo Inc., made the announcement in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

“My soul is begging for this,” Aoki said in the video.

The eight are from the United States and five other countries. While no Japanese is included, one of the two backup members is a Japanese female dancer.

“They will gain a lot from this experience, and I hope they will use that to contribute to Earth, to humanity,” Maezawa said.

A spacecraft and a rocket of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, established by U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk, will be used for Maezawa’s trip.

JIJI Press