Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tanega Island's second big claim to fame is that it's the headquarters of the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Tanegashima Space Center (
種子島宇宙 セ
ンター
; Tanégashima uchū sentā). Located at the southeastern end of the island, JAXA and
the Space Center are the heart of Japan's research and development of rockets, missiles and
satellites. The Space Center develops, tests, launches, tracks and retrieves rocket engines and
satellites.
The launch complexes are open daily to the public except Mondays unless there is an ac-
tual space launch. In that case, only press and media people are allowed on the complex for
viewing. The general public may view space launches from a number of designated points
on the southern end of the island. The Space Exhibition Hall in the Space Center allows vis-
itors to study everything from space development to planet exploration. The Space Center
also includes a Space Information Center, a Rocket Launch Theatre and a Museum Gift Shop.
The center includes exhibits on such things as the mechanisms and functions of satellites, the
launching, tracking and controlling of rockets and the International Space Station project.
The Tanégashima Téppō Arquebus, Forerunner of the Modern Rifle
The Portuguese (European) Arquebus was a muzzle-loaded firearm with a matchlock firing device.
Used between the 15th and 17th centuries, its successor was the flintlock musket. Immediately
ater their introducion in Japan, the weapons were widely reproduced and had a major impact on
civil wars of that era. Japanese craftsmen and metallurgists were able to faithfully copy the designs
and reproduce them in quanity due to their skills at manufacturing high-quality steel for tradiion-
al weapons, notably the Japanese blades known as
katana
(
刀
), otherwise known as the Japan-
ese backsword and commonly referred to as samurai swords. The history of Japan's use of Western
firearms was brilliantly detailed in Noel Perrin's essay “Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the
Sword, 1543-1879,” published in 1979.
