The Ukisu, the land that Tokomizu Town stands on, goes once around the sky above the Japanese archipelago every year. Here you can see where it is today and the route it usually takes.
Where the Town Is Today
Map data: Natural Earth
The position is announced every morning at 5 a.m. The prefectures below are called by the names on the town's map.
The Route for the Year
At the beginning of February, the Ukisu leaves Hokkaido and moves slowly south along the Pacific side. It spends the end of July to mid-August above Okinawa Prefecture, then travels north along the Sea of Japan side and returns to Hokkaido at the end of December.
Because it moves little by little into the neighbouring prefecture, it never jumps a long way at once. It passes above every one of the 47 prefectures (Aomori and Kagoshima twice, once on the way out and once on the way back). The dates shift by a few days from year to year.
| Period | Above |
|---|---|
| Dec 27 – Jan 31 | Hokkaido |
| Feb 1 – Feb 4 | Aomori Prefecture |
| Feb 5 – Feb 16 | Iwate Prefecture |
| Feb 17 – Feb 23 | Miyagi Prefecture |
| Feb 24 – Mar 6 | Fukushima Prefecture |
| Mar 7 – Mar 13 | Tochigi Prefecture |
| Mar 14 – Mar 20 | Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Mar 21 – Mar 27 | Chiba Prefecture |
| Mar 28 – Mar 31 | Tokyo Prefecture (Tōkyō-fu) |
| Apr 1 – Apr 5 | Saitama Prefecture |
| Apr 6 – Apr 12 | Gunma Prefecture |
| Apr 13 – Apr 23 | Nagano Prefecture |
| Apr 24 – Apr 29 | Yamanashi Prefecture |
| Apr 30 – May 3 | Kanagawa Prefecture |
| May 4 – May 11 | Shizuoka Prefecture |
| May 12 – May 18 | Aichi Prefecture |
| May 19 – May 27 | Gifu Prefecture |
| May 28 – Jun 3 | Mie Prefecture |
| Jun 4 – Jun 8 | Nara Prefecture |
| Jun 9 – Jun 15 | Wakayama Prefecture |
| Jun 16 – Jun 20 | Tokushima Prefecture |
| Jun 21 – Jun 28 | Kochi Prefecture |
| Jun 29 – Jul 5 | Ehime Prefecture |
| Jul 6 – Jul 12 | Oita Prefecture |
| Jul 13 – Jul 20 | Miyazaki Prefecture |
| Jul 21 – Jul 26 | Kagoshima Prefecture |
| Jul 27 – Aug 13 | Okinawa Prefecture |
| Aug 14 – Aug 19 | Kagoshima Prefecture |
| Aug 20 – Aug 25 | Kumamoto Prefecture |
| Aug 26 – Aug 30 | Nagasaki Prefecture |
| Aug 31 – Sep 3 | Saga Prefecture |
| Sep 4 – Sep 9 | Fukuoka Prefecture |
| Sep 10 – Sep 16 | Yamaguchi Prefecture |
| Sep 17 – Sep 24 | Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Sep 25 – Oct 1 | Shimane Prefecture |
| Oct 2 – Oct 6 | Tottori Prefecture |
| Oct 7 – Oct 13 | Okayama Prefecture |
| Oct 14 – Oct 17 | Kagawa Prefecture |
| Oct 18 – Oct 25 | Hyogo Prefecture |
| Oct 26 – Oct 28 | Osaka Prefecture |
| Oct 29 – Nov 3 | Kyoto Prefecture |
| Nov 4 – Nov 8 | Shiga Prefecture |
| Nov 9 – Nov 14 | Fukui Prefecture |
| Nov 15 – Nov 19 | Ishikawa Prefecture |
| Nov 20 – Nov 25 | Toyama Prefecture |
| Nov 26 – Dec 4 | Niigata Prefecture |
| Dec 5 – Dec 13 | Yamagata Prefecture |
| Dec 14 – Dec 22 | Akita Prefecture |
| Dec 23 – Dec 26 | Aomori Prefecture |
How the Position Is Found
The position is worked out by the Kamimachi Observatory (General Affairs Division, Calendar Section) and announced at 5 a.m. every morning. During the night, the observers measure the height of the stars to find the latitude and longitude. When it grows light, they check the result by comparing the shapes of the mountains, rivers and coastlines below with the town's map.
The town's map was made in the Taishō period, so places below are called by the names they had then (Tokyo Prefecture, for example). A few places have turned out to look different from the map.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can the direction or speed of the Ukisu be changed?
- No. The Ukisu drifts with the seasons and follows almost the same route every year. No one knows why it always takes the same route.
- Can I go down to the ground below?
- There is currently no regular service to the ground.
- Does the weather change with the position?
- Yes. In winter, in the northern sky, there is a lot of snow; in summer, in the southern sky, one hot day follows another. From August to October the Ukisu sometimes meets typhoons in the southern sky. Today's weather is shown on the 日本語のトップページ (Japanese).