Japan's Observatories & Planetariums

About this book

200 observatories, planetariums and star-gazing landmarks across Japan — each told the same four ways: The Observatory & Its Story, Telescopes, Shows & Hands-On Science, Night Sky, Seasons & Star Culture, and Visiting & Official Check.

English coverage of Japanese astronomy stops at a top-20 web list, a single facility's homepage, or a few pages in a general travel guide. This book is the missing national field guide: the world's largest planetarium dome in Nagoya, public research telescopes you can actually look through, science-museum domes in every region, radio observatories and space centres, and the dark-sky villages and islands — Achi, Kozushima, Iriomote-Ishigaki, Ishigaki's Southern Cross horizon — where Japan's night is still black. Every entry runs to more than 200 words of original text, states honestly how public its access really is, and closes by pointing you to the facility's own official notices instead of pretending that fees and show schedules never change.

Written and created in Japan by Japanese author Aki Wakamatsu. Published by Takikawa TOKOTOKO Kids LLC, a Japanese publisher in Hokkaido, Japan. Authentic Japanese content, carefully made in Japan — not mass-produced.