![\"diane\"](\"http:\/\/otozure.jp\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/diane-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u30ab\u30ca\u30c0\u306e\u5973\u6027\u30d5\u30a1\u30c3\u30b7\u30e7\u30f3\u30fb\u30d6\u30c6\u30a3\u30c3\u30af\u30fb\u30d6\u30e9\u30f3\u30c9\u3001\u30a2\u30ea\u30c4\u30a3\u30a2( Aritzia )\u306e\u30a6\u30a7\u30d6\u30de\u30ac\u30b8\u30f3\u306b\u3001\u5225\u90b8\u97f3\u4fe1\u3068\u5927\u8c37\u5c71\u8358\u306e\u5929\u4f53\u30c9\u30fc\u30e0\u304c\u63b2\u8f09\u3055\u308c\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002\u30c0\u30a4\u30a2\u30f3\u3055\u3093\uff08Ms. Diane Vadino\uff09\u306b\u8a18\u4e8b\u3092\u66f8\u3044\u3066\u3044\u305f\u3060\u304d\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002<\/p>\n
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WE OWN THE SKY
\nFrom a hotel-top observatory in Japan to constellation tours in Texas, here are the best spots to go stargazing. By Diane Vadino. Illustrations by Chrissie Abbott<\/p>\n
After four days in the neon dreamscape known as Tokyo\u2019s Shinjuku district, the only possible option was to seek out something altogether different\u2014which I found six hours away by train, in the hills above the Sea of Japan. Near the literal end of the Mine Line, I disembarked\u2014to visit Otozure, a ryokan, or inn, seemingly built to foster an easy communion with nature. The ryokan\u2019s onsen, or hot-spring baths, overlooked the banks of the Otozure River, from which it takes its name; butterflies darted above it, while hummingbirds thrummed in the heavy, early summer air.
\nLess expected was the inn\u2019s relationship with the sky above, as experienced through a rooftop telescope installed by the grandmother of owner Kazuhiro Otani. Otozure and its sister property, Otani Sanso, have been in Otani\u2019s family for five generations; his grandmother began working there after World War II, when her days would begin with cooking rice at dawn and conclude at 2 a.m., after dancing and singing with guests. Her lifelong love of the stars was inspired by the work of a local poet, Kaneko Misuzu, a Sylvia Plath-like figure who killed herself at the age of 26 after her philandering husband pursued custody of their daughter. Misuzu left behind more than 500 poems\u2014including \u201cStars That Cannot Be Seen,\u201d which celebrates how \u201cdeep in the stars there are more stars; stars that cannot be seen.\u201d Otani\u2019s grandmother first viewed those invisible stars on a trip the U.S., which included a look through a NASA telescope; on her return, she asked her son to install the telescope.
\nAfter hearing this story over dinner, I couldn\u2019t wait to go gaze at the stars. When the sky was fully dark\u2014Otozure is over 600 miles from Tokyo and its light pollution\u2014Otani led me up to the roof and introduced me to the astronomer who regularly takes hotel guests on a tour of the constellations. Otani said his favorite view is of Saturn, which the astronomer promptly dialed up on the telescope; its famous rings were clearly distinguishable. \u201cEvery time I see them, I discover small differences\u2014in the shapes of the rings and their colors,\u201d Otani told me. \u201cBefore I saw Saturn through the observatory telescope, I just recognized it as something like a child\u2019s doodle. But the more I saw it, I noticed that the exact same planet gave me totally different impressions, depending on the situation. That is my wonderful thing.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s a magical experience, seeing those stars that cannot be seen\u2014and while you might not be jetting off to Japan anytime soon, there are observatories all over the world offering this opportunity. Here are four that will speed you along on your trip to the stars.<\/p>\n
![\"observatory_hero\"](\"http:\/\/otozure.jp\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/observatory_hero-1.jpeg\")
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\u5bbf \u5225\u90b8 \u97f3\u4fe1 \u3012759-4103\u3000\u5c71\u53e3\u770c \u9577\u9580\u5e02 \u6e6f\u672c\u6e29\u6cc9 2208
\nRyokan Bettei Otozure, 2208 Yumoto-Onsen Nagato-shi,Yamaguchi-Prefecture, Japan 759-4103<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u30ab\u30ca\u30c0\u306e\u5973\u6027\u30d5\u30a1\u30c3\u30b7\u30e7\u30f3\u30fb\u30d6\u30c6\u30a3\u30c3\u30af\u30fb\u30d6\u30e9\u30f3\u30c9\u3001\u30a2\u30ea\u30c4\u30a3\u30a2( Aritzia )\u306e\u30a6\u30a7\u30d6\u30de\u30ac\u30b8\u30f3\u306b\u3001\u5225\u90b8\u97f3\u4fe1\u3068\u5927\u8c37\u5c71\u8358\u306e\u5929\u4f53\u30c9\u30fc\u30e0\u304c\u63b2\u8f09\u3055\u308c\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002\u30c0\u30a4\u30a2\u30f3\u3055\u3093\uff08Ms. Diane Vadino\uff09\u306b\u8a18\u4e8b\u3092\u66f8\u3044\u3066\u3044\u305f\u3060\u304d\u307e […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-publication"],"yoast_head":"\n