This year marks the 14th Rikubetsu Starlight Festival! To commemorate the opening day, we will hold a lecture and extend the opening hours to hold a stargazing event. This year, we will invite Yuichi Tsuda, Deputy Director of the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, to give a lecture titled "The Challenge of Hayabusa 2: Searching for Asteroid Fragments."

The 115cm telescope, one of the largest in Japan, is available for viewing at any time during opening hours, and on clear days you can see bright stars even during the day. There will also be space to set up a telescope on the rooftop plaza, so if you have a favorite telescope, please bring it with you! At night, when the weather is fine, you can relax in the relaxing chairs lined up on the rooftop plaza, or lie down on the tatami mats laid out to gaze at the moon and stars.