The best places to view the Milky Way in Japan

A survey conducted by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) shows the best places for viewing the Milky Way in Japan.

Survey Result

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!