Science

Tokyo Observatory Holds 1st Public Stargazing Event; 25 Years Since Facility’s Use

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Fumihiro Naokawa, center, at a stargazing event at the observatory of the University of Tokyo’s Komaba Campus in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, on March 21

By Koji Hasebe / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

10:09 JST, April 5, 2026

A public stargazing event was recently held for the first time at the rooftop observatory of the University of Tokyo’s Komaba Campus in Meguro Ward, Tokyo.

The event was organized by a group of volunteers who reutilized the observatory, which had gone out of use.

“I hope to continue holding these events in the future,” said Fumihiro Naokawa, 28, a former doctoral student at the university and the leader of the group.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The observatory of the University of Tokyo’s Komaba Campus

At the event on March 21, there were cheers from visitors who were surprised to see the moon’s craters and the Orion Nebula clearly through the observatory’s telescope, which is equipped with a 28-centimeter lens.

About 60 people, including families, participated the event.

“I usually don’t have many chances to look at the stars, but it was great to see the moon’s craters, which I’d only ever seen in textbooks,”said 14-year-old Saho Ueohtani, a third-year junior high school student from Sumida Ward, Tokyo.

The observatory was established in 1994 for educational and research purposes. It went out of use for the most part about 25 years ago, after a system that automatically points the telescope at celestial targets broke down and because urban areas are too bright at night for stargazing.

Five years ago, when he was researching cosmology in the Graduate School of Science, Naokawa felt that the facility was going to waste, so he proposed repurposing it. After securing permission from his supervising professor, he eventually made it so the telescope could be manually aimed at targets using star charts — the result of a lot of trial and error.

Naokawa and other students put together a trial stargazing event for a university festival. Its success led to the public event.

Earlier this month, Naokawa became a specially appointed researcher at Tohoku University, but he plans to come to Tokyo every now and again to continue being involved in the event.

He has begun asking for donations to the University of Tokyo so that it can continue to operate the facility and improve the equipment.

“I want residents of urban areas to be able to easily enjoy the starry sky and the mysteries of the universe,” he said.