Firmly on the ground on Space Day

September 12th annually is Space Day. 1992 was the International Space Year (ISY), a time when the world cooperated to think about space and the global environment. This led to the establishment of an anniversary for Space Day. The date was decided by public opinion. The reason behind the date was chosen was because on this day in 1992, astronaut Mamoru Mori became the first Japanese to go into space with NASA. In addition, the reason for the selection was that the "92" of "1992" is "Kyujuni", and "912", which is a line of numbers for "September 12", can be read as "Kyujuni".

Japan's Science and Technology Agency (currently: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Space Science (currently: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Institute of Space and Astronautical Science) established the anniversary in 1992. On the ten year anniversary in 2002 they had a large "Fureai Festival" and they often hold an "Essay/Drawing Contest," around the time of the anniversary. In addition, they open its facilities at JAXA centers to the general public. Furthermore, JAXA also designates the whole month of September as "Space Month" and holds "Space Classes" nationwide.

There is a JAXA facility in Hatoyama in Saitama Prefecture. The JAXA Earth Observation Center. It is open to the public during office hours. When we visited it you didn't need to have a booking, just sign in at the gate. There are also a couple of Space museums in Saitama. They are far more engaging than the JAXA facility. Are there are any JAXA facilities in your prefecture? And / or space museums?