Akashi Municipal Planetarium, Astronomical museum and planetarium in Akashi, Japan.
Akashi Municipal Planetarium is an astronomical museum and observatory in Akashi, Japan, featuring several floors of projection systems and exhibits. The building includes an observation deck on the 16th floor that offers views of the sky and surrounding area.
The facility opened on June 10, 1960, and became a center for astronomical education in the Kansai region. Over the decades, the planetarium underwent several upgrades to integrate current technology and scientific findings.
The planetarium sits directly on the Japan Standard Time meridian and serves as a geographic reference for the nation's timekeeping. This location explains why clocks and timepieces are prominently displayed here, and why many school groups visit to learn about time zones and longitude.
Admission for adults costs 700 yen, while students through high school enter without charge, and operating hours run from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Shows inside the dome theater follow a fixed schedule, so checking program times before visiting is helpful.
The site houses one of the oldest working planetariums in Japan, with its original projector from the early 1960s still preserved. Visitors can join special nighttime observation programs on select evenings, when telescopes are set up on the observation deck for public use.
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