National Astronomical Observatory of Japan


The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan is an astronomical research organisation comprising several facilities in Japan, as well as an observatory in Hawaii. It was established in 1988 as an amalgamation of three existing research organizations - the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory of the University of Tokyo, International Latitude Observatory of Mizusawa, and a part of Research Institute of Atmospherics of Nagoya University.
In the 2004 reform of national research organizations, NAOJ became a division of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences.

Facilities

;Mitaka Campus
;Nobeyama Radio Observatory & Nobeyama Solar Radio Observatory
;Mizusawa VERA Observatory
;Okayama Astrophysical Observatory
;VERA 20m radio telescopes
;Hawaii Observatory
Norikura Solar Observatory, formerly under NAOJ, was decommissioned in 2010 and its building is reused for researches including non-astronomical area under administration of National Institute of Natural Sciences.

NINS

In 2004, NAOJ, in alliance with four other national institutes – the National Institute for Basic Biology, the National Institute for Fusion Science, the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, and the Institute for Molecular Science – established the National Institutes of Natural Sciences to promote collaboration among researchers of the five constituent institutes.

Projects with NAOJ involvement