"Islands" #3 - Gun Museum and Rocket Launch

Today I continue talking about Tanegashima.

Tanegashima is well-known for at least two reasons. First, on August 25, 1543, the southernmost point of the island, Cape Kadokura, was the site of the first European landings in Japan.

The ship went off course in the waters between China and Okinawa; it was carrying a number of Spanish sailors and explorers, including Fernão Mendez Pinto (1509-1583). According to his account, he was the first European to visit Japan, and the first to bring a matchlock arquebus (a type of firearm). Although Pinto's claims are disputed by historians (other sources indicate that he was in India or Myanmar at about the same time that he said he landed on Tanegashima), there is no doubt that this was when Portuguese guns were introduced to Japan. Indeed, for the next few centuries the Japanese called the firearm "Tanegashima Teppo" (種子島鉄砲). Whether Pinto was the one who introduced the Japanese to pistols is still unknown. Like Marco Polo's "Travels", Pinto's stories are so unusual, fantastic and detailed that it is simply impossible to judge them accurately. On the other hand, his records of life and events in Asia are so perfectly described that no one can deny the truthfulness of Pinto's words. His great autobiographical work is called "Peregrinacao" ("Pilgrimage"): it was published long after Pinto's death, in 1614.

Because of this Portuguese-Japanese historical connection, Nishinoomote, the largest city of Tanegashima, is a sister city of Vila de Bospo, in Portugal. Most visitors to the island arrive at Nishinoomote through the 鉄砲館 (Japanese: Teppo-kan; "gun hall"), a museum of Portuguese firearms. It houses over a hundred priceless exhibits, including the oldest European guns. In addition, the museum allows you to appreciate the metallurgical skills of the 16th century Japanese, which were used to make scissors, samurai blades, and iron armor, which can also be seen in the museum.

The second thing that has made Tanegashima famous is the headquarters of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Tanegashima Space Center. The headquarters and space center are located on the southern tip of the island; they are the heart of Japanese research and development of rockets and artificial satellites. The space center develops, launches, monitors, and improves rocket sections and spacecraft.

The space center is open to visitors six days a week, except on launch days. On such days, only reporters are allowed into the territory for observation. The general public is usually content with a dozen observation decks around the cosmodrome. In the Space Exhibition Hall, a traveler can study everything that the Space Center lives on: from the development of rocket launches to the study of other planets. You can also visit the Information Center, a theater, and a museum souvenir shop at the Space Center. The exhibition includes such exhibits as parts of satellites and rocket engines, devices for launching, tracking, and controlling the devices, and a model of the ISS (International Space Station).

R. Walker, "Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands", my own translation

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