National Astronomical Observatory of Japan — Attraction in Tokyo

Hello everyone, If you love to see how Japan has developed the Astronomical instruments like huge telescope and other scientific stuff in the past centuries, this is completely the right place for you to get in to. You can touch and see these instruments . Is not is amazing ? Its just 45 minutes in west of central tokyo if you use train. it is located in Mitaka city of Tokyo prefecture. I had visited this place and found a huge area with green jungle to walk into, awesome ancient buildings used to observe the universe and many other ancient scripture, books etc. related to astronomy. I also enjoyed playing the quiz that would be really fun for kids. There is a cafeteria where you can find really cheap Japanese food menus. You can spend couple of hours easily in natural environments... NO ENTRY FEE , ALL FREE !! ALL 7 DAYS OPEN from 10:00 AM to...

Not very much to see if I'm being honest. Most buildings are off limits and the cafeteria is closed during the weekend so you really can't spend a full day there even though the caretaker tour guide who was in the 1920s observatory was a fantastic teacher with amazing energy for both young and adult. Too bad that there was not more to do even if it cost money for entry to facilitate more services, because it's so far away from Tokyo and it's a long walk from the nearest train station and you have to leave from the main entrance so you can't just walk through to the parks on the other side. I love space science and history so it was still good and I'm glad I went, but I think the 3 stars is warranted for the reasons noted above. Would have paid even 700 yen for entry if it had more of...

A really nice place to check out some old astronomy equipment! When I went I became a bit lost with another visitor as it is a bit difficult to figure out what areas are open for public viewing (this was on a day they were doing some construction so that may have been why). I did end up asking a staff member I saw next to a building for some help and she was so kind and showed me the area that I wanted to go. Once I found my way to the areas it was interesting to see the domes and equipment. The telescopes are really amazing to see in person. Overall a great experience not only for the buildings but the...