A night to look up at. Starry Sky Strolls

Spend a full day with the family enjoying a star-filled sky unaffected by the weather at the Kawasaki Municipal Science Museum (かわさき宙と緑の科学館) in Ikuta Ryokuchi Park (生田緑地), Tama Ward, Kawasaki City. The planetarium is equipped with the MEGASTAR-III FUSION, a projector that renders a starry sky of world-leading quality, realistically reproducing countless stars invisible under city lights. Hours are 9:30-17:00, closed Mondays (open on national holidays, closed the following Tuesday instead). The exhibition room is free to enter, and planetarium admission is family-friendly: 400 yen for adults, 200 yen for high school and university students and those 65 and over, and free for junior high school students and younger. Stroll the woodland of Ikuta Ryokuchi in the early afternoon, walk among the old farmhouses at the Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum in the park, then finish with the 15:00 planetarium show. Afterward, take your time exploring the free exhibits on space and nature. The projection schedule varies by day, so check the official website before you go.

This is a day to fully enjoy space and starry skies at the Hamagin Kodomo Space Science Museum (Yokohama Children's Science Museum) in Yokodai, Isogo Ward, Yokohama. The whole building is designed as a hands-on science museum modeled on a giant spaceship, capped off with a sky full of stars in the planetarium. It is open 9:30-17:00 (last admission 16:00), and closed on the first and third Tuesdays each month and over the New Year holidays (temporary closures may also occur). Admission is 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for elementary/junior high school students (free for elementary, junior high, and high school students every Saturday); the planetarium costs 600 yen for adults, 300 yen for elementary/junior high school students, and 300 yen for ages 4 and up (free for ages 3 and under, though a fee applies if a seat is used). Parking is also available. In the early afternoon, get active at the adjoining Yokodai Station Square Park, take a breather at the Kodomo Log House, and then spend a good long while at the science museum in the afternoon. It is a rain-proof starry sky course where you can encounter a sky full of stars right in the middle of the city.

Spend a day looking up at a starry sky spreading over the sea from the hills of the Miura Peninsula. Shonan International Village is an area spread across the hills of Hayama Town, and from the Observation Plaza you can take in a panoramic view of Sagami Bay. Since there are no large city lights on the sea side, on clear nights you can encounter a seaside starry sky where stars line up above the horizon. In the afternoon, first head to Hayama Shiosai Park, built on the former site of the Hayama Imperial Villa's annex. Enjoy strolling through the Japanese garden and the Shiosai Museum, which gathers marine life from Sagami Bay (admission is 300 yen for high school students and older, 150 yen for elementary and junior high school students). In the evening, move up the hill to Shonan International Village, and the highlight of this course is slowly watching the sky transition from sunset to starry night. If the weather is clear, you may also see the silhouette of Mt. Fuji at dusk. The hilltop is windy and gets cold, so don't forget to dress warmly. Since there is little lighting at night, bring a light, and check local conditions such as parking in advance.