Planetarium

I love planetariums. I went to a planetarium for the first time in my life when I was 7. That experience turned me into a fan of the planets and stars. Even now, I love looking up into the sky and gaze at the stars and the moon. The dark sky is so mysterious and I feel like the stars are telling ussomething important. As you know, it is very hard to find even one star in the night sky in Los Angeles because of the smog. I thought it would be a fun thing to go to a planetarium to enjoy seeing the stars, not only for children, but for adults as well.

My favorite planetarium is called ‘The Griffith Observatory’ in L.A. I had longed to go there ever since I moved to California. But, unfortunately, the building went through re-construction. I waited a long while for their grand re-opening and finally visited. It was a beautiful facility and the view was spectacular. Needless to say the show was fantastic. But, my most favorite exhibit was their landscape of the planets. Speaking of that, during Christmas Day in 2002, my friend and I were in an open-air hot spring bath in Oita (大分県) and looked into the sky while enjoying the warm water. It was at the time that I felt inspired, and knew that in the future I would live in a foreign country. It is hard to explain why I felt so – but I just felt so. As a matter of fact, I left Japan for the U.S. in the Summer of 2003. Very interesting, don’t you think?