Pledging to uphold the Japanese spirit of wa harmony Koichi Wakata took command of the International Space Station on Sunday, the first Japanese astronaut to lead a human space mission.

In a change-of-command ceremony, broadcast on NASA Television, Wakata, thanked the outgoing commander, Russian Oleg Kotov, for his leadership as well as crewmates Sergey Ryazanskiy and Mike Hopkins, all of whom who will be returning to Earth on Monday.

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We will continue to keep the station operations safe, efficient and fun, as you guys led us to do so. Have a safe return and well catch you back on the planet in a couple of months, Wakata said.

Wakata, 50, who is serving for the second time aboard the space station, becomes only the third person who is not an American or a Russia to lead a space station crew. Previously, Canadian Chris Hadfield and the European Space Agencys Frank DeWinne held command posts.

I hope you will bring station operation to success with wa spirit, a Japanese flight director said, speaking through a translator.

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Wa harmony is a creed, replied Wakata. I think it expresses the spirit of Japanese through its long history. I really want to respect the wa spirit.

Wakata will remain in command until he and crewmatesRick Mastracchio and Mikhail Tyurin return to Earth in mid-May. They will be joined by three new space station crewmembersOleg Artemyev, Alexander Skvortsov and Steve Swanson later this month.

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Japanese Astronaut Takes Command of Space Station