KAZUKIN likes starry skies.
That said, I'm not knowledgeable about stars.
My knowledge of constellations is nearly zero.
I only know the Big Dipper.
Because of Kenshiro.
I'm a man who learned from Hokuto Shinken (the martial art of the Big Dipper in the manga Fist of the North Star), not from a star chart.
Even so, when I go to Nagano, I want to look up at the night sky.
Nagano has many high-altitude places, and the stars are just beautiful.
So this time I headed to the starry-sky night tour at “Heavens Sonohara” in Achi Village, Nagano.
This was actually my second time.
The fun starts from boarding the gondola
The first fun part is the gondola to the venue.
If there's still some light in the sky, you can ride up while looking at mountain views.
That's quite nice.
Just riding a gondola through the mountains gives a bit of attraction feeling already.
For KAZUKIN, my satisfaction is already fairly high at this point.
I haven't seen a single star yet, though.
And arriving at the summit side, a stage is set up in the plaza.
The atmosphere is somehow like an outdoor festival.
People gather in the mountains, there's a stage, lighting, and everyone waits on the lawn for the time.
This feeling is nice.
It's supposed to be a quiet event of “looking at stars,” but before it starts I'm strangely excited.
After 8 p.m., the light-down finally comes
And around 8 p.m.
The venue lights go out all at once.
Light-down.
The moment everything goes pitch dark, a field of stars overhead.
From the venue, naturally, comes a cheer:
“Ohh!”
I get it.
You do say that.
KAZUKIN says it too.
Vocabulary vanishes in an instant.
“Ohh!” is enough.
The number of stars is completely different from the night sky I usually see in the city.
Fine points of light scattered across the whole sky, truly a jewel box of the heavens.
I want to say something like a TV food reporter (“a jewel box!”), but it really is like that, so it can't be helped.
You'll be fine even if you don't know stars
On the tour, staff explain while pointing at actual stars with a powerful laser pointer.
This is very helpful.
And this time, the one handling the star commentary was “Hoshi-nii” (Star Bro).
He talks about stars in a light Kansai dialect, and it's just very funny. Even KAZUKIN, with almost zero star knowledge, got naturally drawn into the talk while laughing.
This Hoshi-nii apparently says he is often called in on cloudy nights.
“If it's clear, the event works fine without my explanation. The stars are beautiful.”
I see.
Conversely, he gets his turn on nights when it's cloudy and the stars can't be seen. You've come all the way up the mountain to enjoy the starry sky, but the stars themselves aren't visible. At such times, he sends people home with at least laughter as a memory. That's apparently why he's often called.
...What a role. Too funny.
But being able to tell this lightly as a funny story is impressive.
Fortunately this time it was properly clear.
In other words, we drew the quite luxurious combination of a sky full of stars plus Hoshi-nii's talk.
When I came three years ago Hoshi-nii wasn't there, so even on the same starry-sky night tour, this time had a different kind of fun.
When looking at stars, having one knowledgeable person doubles the fun.
All the more if that person is funny.
Looking at the sky normally, KAZUKIN ends at
“That seems to be some star.”
but now,
“I see, so that's the one.”
It's not only star names and positions.
Among the stars visible this very moment, some no longer actually exist, and only light emitted long ago is now reaching Earth.
Hearing that,
“What do you mean?”
I'm now looking at a star that may no longer exist.
The universe is too huge in scale.
I normally think things like
“What should I have for dinner tonight?”
and feel very small.
The mystery of the universe.
The KAZUKIN method: just listen quietly to the explanation
For someone who knows constellations, there's the fun of finding stars yourself.
But KAZUKIN is different.
I only know the Big Dipper.
And my knowledge comes from Kenshiro.
So on tours like this, rather than pretending to know, the Ore-shiki way is to listen quietly to the explanation.
“Hmm.”
“I see.”
“Ohh.”
With these three, you can get through pretty much anything.
Still, the good thing about a starry sky is that you can enjoy it plenty without knowledge.
Even without knowing star names,
beautiful is beautiful.
That's strong.
Just looking at the stars spread across the entire sky overhead is worth coming for.
Seeing stars both times is apparently quite lucky
This was KAZUKIN's second visit to Heavens Sonohara.
And thankfully, I was able to see the starry sky properly both times.
That's apparently quite lucky.
Naturally, the opponent is nature.
Even after coming, sometimes it's cloudy and you end without meeting the starry sky.
I hear some people are blocked by clouds no matter how many times they come.
You come for a starry-sky tour, and the whole sky is cloud.
All you can do is laugh.
That's probably why the gratitude is big when it clears and you can see the stars.
Even in midsummer, definitely bring a jacket
And there's one thing I absolutely want you not to forget here.
A jacket.
Heavens Sonohara is a high-altitude ski resort.
Even if it's hot in the daytime, once the sun sets it's normally cold.
“It's midsummer, so it should be fine.”
That thinking doesn't work in the mountains.
Occasionally you see formidable people attending in T-shirts and shorts.
They exist.
They certainly do.
But you should think those people are outside the normal range.
Don't use them as a reference.
Don't think
“Maybe I can do it too.”
If you go lightly dressed and start shivering from the cold, the precious starry sky turns from
“The stars are beautiful.”
to
“I want to get on the gondola soon.”
That would be a waste.
Warm-up goods are also sold on site, so if you forget, buying them there is an option.
But bringing one layer from the start is the most reassuring.
You don't have to know stars to love a starry sky
You don't need to know about stars.
You don't need to know constellations.
It's fine even if you only know the Big Dipper.
If you look up at the sky and think
“Beautiful,”
that's enough to enjoy it fully.
And if you listen to a bit of explanation, you can even imagine the universe beyond those stars.
Time to look a little farther than usual.
This kind of time is nice too, right?
It was a place I wanted to go back to.
Starry skies are great, right?
KAZUKIN Rating
- 🚡 Just the gondola round trip — ★★★★★ (high satisfaction before even arriving)
- ✨ Brute force of the number of stars — ★★★★★ (like a jewel box tipped over)
- 🌟 Constellation knowledge — ★☆☆☆☆ (only knows the Big Dipper. And the source is Kenshiro)
- 🧥 Preparedness for the cold — ★★★☆☆ (remember at the last minute every time)
- 🍀 Clear-weather luck — ★★★★★ (met the starry sky both times)
This article is a personal opinion and experience record. Conversations in this article are based on memory and may differ in detail from what was actually said.