Can you see the “best starry sky in Japan” in Achi Village, the “best utopia in Japan”?

Can you see the “best starry sky in Japan” in Achi Village, the “best utopia in Japan”?

Hello, this is Ichiro! 😊 Today, I’m going to see “Japan’s best starry sky” in Achi Village, “Japan’s best utopia”! August 21, 2025. You can get there by ropeway and bus, but I drove to Bangakuso. Today, I’m planning to set up my tent and photograph the starry sky all night long. Check-in starts at noon, so I head up to Fujimidai Plateau first. It’s 1.1 km to the summit, about 30 minutes away. Beware of thunder! 😱 I made a reservation at Bangakuso yesterday, having seen the “sunny” weather forecast, but the afternoon forecast has changed to “cloudy with occasional rain.” 😱 Even though I came all the way here to see the stars, I might not be able to see any at all. 😅 Looks like this is where you’ll be setting up your tent. 🤔 If the weather’s nice, this might be a good place for stargazing. At worst, I might not see any stars, so for now, I’ll just enjoy hiking up Fujimidai Plateau.👍 It’s only a 30-minute walk to the top of Fujimidai Plateau, but apparently, from the summit, you can enjoy a spectacular 360-degree view.✌️ The green of the mountainside covered in bamboo grass is beautiful.😃 I’ve been to Achi Village many times during flowering peach season, but this is my first time hiking up Fujimidai Plateau. And this is also the first time I’ve ever traveled just to see the starry sky. There was a Chestnut Tiger Butterfly! 😃 The Chestnut Tiger Butterfly is a rare butterfly that migrates long distances like a migratory bird. This is the first time I’ve seen one this year! 😊 In spring, they fly north from Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands to Honshu and Hokkaido, and in autumn, they retrace their steps, migrating south from Hokkaido and Honshu to southern regions like Taiwan. The Chestnut Tiger Butterfly is migrating to cooler climates. What a spectacular view! 😊 You can see Bangakuso. There’s a signpost. 0.6km left until the summit. This area is halfway between Bangakuso and the summit. There aren’t many trees, so the view is amazing! 👍 Blue sky, white clouds, and green bamboo grass! 👍 Misaka Hut 🤔 It looks like there’s a shelter here! 🤔 Is this the path? 😅 Shelters are facilities for temporary refuge in emergencies such as sudden changes in weather or illness. It was locked. 😅 It seems this toilet is open. 100 yen per use. Not open in winter. Let’s check out the hut next door. It’s open. 😊 No shoes allowed. It’s so wonderful to have these shelters! 🙏 There were two mountain huts just 0.3 km from the summit. We’re almost at the summit! ✌️ Fujimidai Plateau is located at the southern end of the Central Alps. Achi Village, at the foot of the mountain, is known as “Japan’s greatest utopia.” I can see the summit! 😊 I wonder if I’ll be able to see the stars today! 🤔 I came here today hoping to see the Milky Way and the Summer Triangle… 😅 In 2006, Achi Village was recognized by the Ministry of the Environment as having the “best starry sky in Japan.” When I came to Achi Village to see the Flowering Peach, I always wanted to see “Japan’s Best Starry Sky,” but I couldn’t stand crowds, so I gave up. Heavens Sonohara’s stargazing tours can attract as many as 3,000 people in one night. 😅 A while ago, I learned from Kaho’s YouTube video that you could see the stars at Bangakuso, and that’s how I got here. A video of Kaho climbing Fujimidai Plateau, staying at Mangakuso, and gazing at the starry sky👍 Today, I enjoyed such a spectacular view that it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t see the stars😊 The higher my expectations, the greater the disappointment, so I try not to get my hopes up too high, and when something good happens, I think, “I’m lucky today.” Leaving Bangakuso, I reached the summit in 30 minutes. You can enjoy an unobstructed 360-degree view from the summit. There’s an observation deck! 😊 Northern Alps. Central Alps. Southern Alps. Mount Ena. Nakatsugawa city. Magome-juku is this way🤔 A 360-degree panoramic view😊 I wasn’t expecting much, but I’m glad I got to see Mt. Ena✌️ Today, I was lucky👍 It would be amazing if I could see the stars at night, but since that might not be possible, I’ll add watching the sunset and sunrise to my plans for today.✌️ The view is more spectacular on the way down.👍 By the way, despite its name, Fujimidai Plateau, you can’t see Mt. Fuji from here. Apparently, it came to be called Fujimidai (a platform from which to view Mt. Fuji) after followers of the Fuji sect established a Fuji worship site here in the early Meiji period. The manager of Bangakuso told me that if you want to see the sunset, the best place to go is at the end of that fork. I’ll climb back up to that signpost again in the evening. 😊 I also spotted a Chestnut Tiger Butterfly on the way down. 😊 There were also honeybees. 😊 We’ll soon arrive at Bangakuso. Rain is forecast, so I set up my tent early and take a nap in preparation for the night. Even if there’s a thunderstorm, I can take shelter in Bangakuso, so I have peace of mind. ✌️ At Bangakuso, you can choose to stay in a room, a tent, or your car. Since I plan to alternate between photographing the stars and taking naps, I chose to stay in a tent so as not to disturb other guests. I’m going to set up my tent here now. Today, I’m going to try my hand at time-lapse photography of the starry sky! Since it’s impossible to capture video of the stars, I set my shutter speed to 15 seconds, taking a photo every 15 seconds. Taking photos every 15 seconds for two hours straight results in a video that’s only 16 seconds long. Will we be able to see the stars?🤔 What a beautiful leopard-patterned fritillary butterfly!😊 I set up the tent and took a nap.✌️ It didn’t rain, but the clouds were thicker. I even heard thunder in the distance. 😱 I’m going to go see the sunset, even though I don’t think it will work! I’m going to take a time-lapse video with my GoPro. The city lights were even more beautiful than the sunset. 😅 At 8 PM, the manager gathered the guests for a stargazing event. 🙏 At the time, the clouds made it difficult to see the stars, but miraculously, the clouds cleared up afterward. 😃 After pointing the camera north and taking some test shots, I continued shooting for two hours. I composed the shot so that the roof of Bangakuso would appear in silhouette. GoPro, star trails. The maneger hosted another stargazing event at midnight 🙏 This time, it’s the Milky Way and Summer Triangle, which I wanted to see today. Here’s a time lapse of the Milky Way and Summer Triangle sinking into the western sky! In about an hour, the sky would brighten and the stars would no longer be visible, so I gave up on the time-lapse and just kept pressing the shutter. 😊 Over the past week, the stars were visible only one day from my home at the foot of Mount Fuji. That was the first time I’d ever photographed a starry sky. Retouching the photos might make them even better, but my videos are basically “straight from the camera.”✌️ I think this footage is pretty close to how it actually looks.✌️ To be able to see so many stars in the summer is truly “Japan’s best starry sky.”👍 The constellation Orion has appeared in the eastern sky. Orion will soon disappear. Today, I was able to see the Milky Way, the Summer Triangle, and even Orion! 😃 A blue moment with Orion! 👍 Next year, after seeing the Flowering Peach, I’ll probably climb Fujimidai Plateau and look at the starry sky! 😊 Of course, I’ll stay at Bangakuso again! Thank you to my manager, Hara-san! 🙏 In Achi Village, “Japan’s No. 1 Utopia,” I finally got to see Japan’s best starry sky! The Fujimidai Plateau was also spectacular, and it was truly a lucky day! Thank you for watching the video until the end. See you in the next video! 😊

Today, I saw “Japan’s best starry sky” for the first time in Achi Village, famous for its flowering peach blossoms.
Achi Village has been certified by the Ministry of the Environment as “the village with the most beautiful starry sky in Japan.”
This time, I camped in a tent at the mountain hut “Bangakuso” near the “Heaven’s Sonohara Observatory,” which attracts 150,000 people annually to gaze at the stars, and photographed almost all night.

00:00 Opening
01:08 Climbing from Bangakuso to Fujimidai Plateau.
03:19 Chestnut Tiger Butterfly (a rare butterfly that migrates long distances)
06:08 Misaka Hut
11:10 The magnificent panorama from the summit of Fujimidai Plateau
14:26 Location for photographing the sunset
14:49 Chestnut Tiger Butterfly, again
17:01 Moving on to photograph the sunset.
17:25 Time-lapse photography of the sunset (GoPro)
17:52 Time-lapse photography of the northern starry sky (Sony ZV-E10)
18:34 Star trail photography of the North Star (GoPro)
18:42 Time-lapse photography of the western starry sky (Milky Way and Summer Triangle) (Sony ZV-E10)
19:28 Photographing the constellation Orion emerging from the eastern sky (Sony ZV-E10)
21:02 Time-lapse photography of the pre-sunrise period (GoPro)
21:11 Time-lapse photography of the sunrise (Sony ZV-E10)

Shooting date: August 21, 2025

Bangakuso Official Website: https://bangakusou.wixsite.com/home

Watch more:
🔴 “Japan’s No. 1 Utopia” https://youtu.be/DfUWByRwbJw
　　Kaho’s Mountain Climbing Diary https://youtu.be/b0EBGfbkgXE?si=4kxqAqLtiz-j_lC-
　　Videos used as reference for photographing starry skies https://youtu.be/37kBsSLy7Ls?si=YUqix5YGzao2LMVL

*Google Translate was used for the translation. The translation may not be accurate.
*The information in the video may not be 100% accurate.

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#starrysky #milkyway #achivillage #fujimidaikogen #bangakuso #asmr #japan #travel #vlog #japantravelwalk