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SpaceX will take a Japanese to orbit the Moon 0:52
(CNN Business) - Sounds like the plot of a science fiction movie, but Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa takes his search for someone special to accompany him on a space trip to the Moon.
After recently separating from his girlfriend, the fashion mogul launched an online call for a “life partner” to accompany him on SpaceX's inaugural tourist trip: a trip around the Moon tentatively scheduled for 2023.
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"As feelings of loneliness and emptiness begin to emerge in me, there is one thing I think about: continuing to love a woman," Maezawa, 44, wrote Thursday in an online appeal.
“I want to find a 'life partner'. With that future companion of mine, I want to shout our love and world peace from outer space. ”
Maezawa, who founded Japan's popular online shopping site Zozotown, has an estimated value of $ 2 billion, according to Forbes.
It is a rare and eccentric figure among generally conservative entrepreneurs in Japan, and it was world news in 2018, when Elon Musk's SpaceX revealed that he had rented a flight aboard the company's Big Falcon Rocket.
The Big Falcon Rocket, which was later renamed Starship, has a launch goal this year, according to the SpaceX website.
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Known widely as a high-level art collector, Maezawa announced in 2018 that he planned to take six to eight artists with him on the trip to the Moon and inspire them to create new art, a project he called "Dear Moon."
"What I want to do is show the people of Earth how beautiful our planet is by bringing artists there, so they can convey that beauty to the world," he told CNN previously.
'A special person'
When writing on his website, Maezawa said he thought the lunar trip was a good opportunity to "seriously face the idea of 'continuing to love a woman' of which he only had a confused image."
According to the conditions listed on the website, applicants must be single women 20 years of age or older, with a "bright personality" and always positive, have an interest in going to space and "wishing for world peace."
The deadline for applications is January 17, and Maezawa will make the final decision at the end of March.
Applicants are asked to provide their height, work, hobbies, "special ability" and "best points", their impression of Maezawa and a photo of themselves.
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The pairing search will be filmed for a new documentary, “Full Moon Lovers,” which will be shown on the AbemaTV streaming service.
Eccentric Billionaire
Maezawa is no stranger to tricks to get attention.
On New Year's Eve, he announced on YouTube that he would give away more than $ 9 million to 1,000 of his Twitter followers to see if it makes them happier. All they had to do to get the chance to win the money was to retweet their original post before midnight on January 7. A lottery will determine the winners.
The billionaire organized a similar contest in January 2019, giving away 100 million yen (US $ 910,000) to 100 Twitter followers. They ended up with a little more than US $ 9,000 each. His January 2019 tweet was the most retweeted Twitter post at that time, with 4.7 million retweets.
CNN's Scottie Andrew contributed to this report.
Trip to the moon