2026 Sotome Churches and Nagasaki Prefectural Forest Observatory Starry Sky Full-Day Course

The Nagasaki Prefectural Forest Observatory (ながさき県民の森 天文台) in the Sotome (外海) area of Nagasaki City is equipped with a 20cm-aperture refracting telescope fitted with what is said to be the prefecture's first barrier-free eyepiece, allowing observation without leaving a wheelchair. It is basically open on Saturdays, around sunset to 21:00 (reception at the campsite management building until 20:30), and also on Fridays during summer vacation. Admission is 250 yen for elementary and junior high school students and 500 yen for high school students and above (50% discount for holders of a disability certificate and their caregivers). It does not open in weather when the stars cannot be seen. The same Sotome area is also home to Shitsu Church (出津教会堂), a component asset of the World Heritage Site, the Endo Shusaku Literature Museum (遠藤周作文学館), and Michi-no-Eki Yuhigaoka Sotome (道の駅 夕陽が丘そとめ).