A survey conducted by the National
Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) shows the best places for viewing the
Milky Way in Japan.
However, the survey did not count the
result from certain prefectures (namely Shiga, Nara, Shimane, Saga, Oita,
Miyazaki, Okinawa) as the number of sample was too low to determine the result.
As a big fan of Nagano(for good reasons) when it comes to outdoor activities
(Snowboarding, camping, star gazing, etc..), I've decided to narrow down on my
choices regarding places to shoot astrophotography with a result of greater
than 70%.
Prefectures with result greater than 70%:
Aomori, Akita, Fukushima, Gunma,
Niigata, Fukui, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka, Mie, Kyoto, Wakayama, Tokushima,
Ehime, Kagoshima.
I'm surprised that Hokkaido didn’t make it into the list.
But then, the survey is based on random
participants reporting the clarity/visibility of
the night sky from various locations in
the respective prefecture. Therefore the local weather & the level of light
pollution can greatly affect the visibility of the Milky Way galaxy.
With that said, the viable choices for
me will be Yamanashi, Gunma, Niigata, Shizuoka,
and Nagano. With a bike, Kyushu &
Hokkaido will definitely fit in the list as well.
The next step is to find out where
exactly in each prefecture is suitable to camp & shoot the night sky. I shall start with nearby places such as
Shizuoka, Yamanashi, & Gunma.
Let's hope after shooting I won't be too lazy to edit & post the
shots here!