Japanese enjoy longest total solar eclipse this century

July 28, 2009

Japanese enjoy longest total solar eclipse this century

Iwojima Island, a World War II battlefield in the western Pacific, drew public attention across Japan last week as it hosted a spectacular astronomical event—a total solar eclipse. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan provided images of the jet-black sun telecast from a ship near the island. NHK, Japan’s prestigious public TV network, continued to air images of the phenomenon from its staff on the island and aboard a ship in the waters. The total eclipse continued for about six minutes and a half before noon Japan time on July 22. Total eclipses this long will not occur any more this century, astronomers say. (The photo above was taken from NHK TV; an overlapped image of the sun completely hidden by the shadow of the moon and a sunset-like scene which appeared on the horizon in the surrounding area.)
Iwojima Island, located about 1,200 kilometers south of Tokyo, is one of the southernmost territories of Japan. Fighting between Japanese and U.S. forces on the volcanic island claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides.
The Japanese media kept showing many Japanese who got excited about the unusual event and followed the so-called solar eclipse hunters. The latest total eclipse was the first phenomenon of its kind observed in Japan in 46 years. The total eclipse band started in India, cut across China and moved on to small islands south of the Japanese Archipelago, including Iwojima. Islands which are nearer to the main islands of Japan were covered by thick clouds or hit by rain. As a result, Iwojima unexpectedly came into the spotlight as a good place to observe the total eclipse. Partial eclipse was observed at many places on the main islands of Japan.

The previous total eclipse in Japan occurred in 1963 when Japanese people had only started getting back on their feet from the ruins of the last war. This time, Japanese adults and children equally enjoyed the solar eclipse, while experts welcomed the event as a chance to make children more interested in the sciences. Some people thought the supernatural event was a good, epoch-making opportunity to restart their life.

Japan’s oldest confirmed total eclipse occurred in the year of 975 in the middle of the Heian period. The Imperial Court then announced a general amnesty. The astronomical event was generally viewed as an ominous sign in Japan until early last century. In a 1950 short novel written by Yukio Mishima, one of the greatest modern Japanese writers, the heroin recalls that she got married with her husband, who lost his eyesight due to injuries in the war, while knowing a solar eclipse would occur the following day. Her parents disliked the date for their wedding and warned “You’ll bring on bad luck.”

The unpopular Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso dissolved the House of Representatives for a snap general election while knowing the total eclipse would occur the following day. The odds are against him, but Aso and his Liberal Democratic Party had no other choice. They had no time to enjoy the solar eclipse, either. They have to fight for a showdown with the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan throughout this summer.