Kakioka Magnetic Observatory

Kakioka Magnetic Observatory is a long-running geomagnetic research station in Ishioka, Japan, with a history stretching back more than a century.

About Kakioka Magnetic Observatory

Operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency (originally the Central Meteorological Observatory), Kakioka studies geomagnetic fields and storms, geoelectric and atmospheric electric fields, and geomagnetic pulsations. It runs proton magnetometers and other instruments that record data at intervals from 0.1 seconds up to a full minute.

History

The observatory was founded in 1913. It became a permanently staffed facility in 1924, after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 damaged the observation site in Tokyo it was meant to replace. New buildings, including a main office, an absolute measurement hut, and dedicated geomagnetic and atmospheric electricity huts, were completed through 1924 and 1925. Its first director was Syuichi Imamichi, appointed in December 1923. Kakioka also maintains an archive of digitised historical magnetograms dating back to 1924, and it operates sister stations at Memambetsu and Kanoya elsewhere in Japan.

Location & getting there

The observatory is located in Ishioka City, in Japan's Kanto region, an area chosen over a century ago in part for being far enough from Tokyo's electric railways and industry to keep magnetic interference low.

Visiting Kakioka Magnetic Observatory

As a working scientific station, check the observatory's official website, kakioka-jma.go.jp, for current information on visiting or public outreach before travelling there. The site's long observational record makes it a useful reference point for researchers studying how the geomagnetic field has changed over the past hundred years.

See your named star from here

Kakioka's instruments are trained on Earth's magnetic field rather than the stars above it, but Ishioka's skies are still there to look up at. Wherever you view the night sky, the coordinates of a star named through Star Register will point you to it — explore our naming packages or check the star catalogue.