While travelling through Japan on my way to the IPS conference I cannot help but stop and visit some planetariums along the way. I have managed to visit two of the three planetariums in Tokyo.

The first was the Konica Minolta Planetarium ‘TENKU’ which is located in a shopping mall at the base of the Tokyo Sky Tree. It is 18 metres in diameter and seats 199. It is a 4K hybrid system using a Konica Minolta Infinium Σ star projector and 2 x Media Globe 4KTE projectors for the fulldome.

The show I saw was called Goodnight Planetarium, a very unique and very Japanese blend of poetry, philosophy and astronomy. The show made extensive use of the star projector and the quality of the stars was fantastic. It was only the first show of the day, but I was surprised there was only six people in the audience whereas the Sky Tree observation deck was completely packed.

The second planetarium I visited was the Dome Theater GAIA at the Miaraikan Science Museum. I had longed wanted to visit this planetarium as the science centre featured in the fulldome film The Man from the 9 Dimensions. Anyone one who has seen the film would instantly recognize the huge 6 metre LED sphere suspended in their main exhibit area. The GEO-Cosmos certainly grabs your attention and the curved walkway allows visitors to see it from all angles. Special presentations about earth science are run on a regular basis.

The planetarium show I attended was called Birthday. Which told the story of the birth of the solar system. Again it was an interesting blend of philosophy and astronomy. The planetarium has a 15 metre dome and seats 121. It uses a hybrid system, with a Megastar II Cosmos star projector and 2 x 4K laser projectors. The show was presented in 3D.

It was good to see both planetariums and interesting to note they were both hybrid system. I was also surprised that neither show included any form of live presentation. This makes the presentations feel automated and I miss the human connection that a live presentation offers.