There are two large astronomical societies in Japan:
1. The Astronomical Society of Japan, founded in 1908 by H. Terao, former director
of the Tokyo Observatory, has about 600 members, and its publication was the
Astronomical Herald, published monthly in Tokyo. Its office is in the Tokyo
Observatory.
2. The Society of Astronomical Friends was founded in 1920 by I. Yamamoto. It has
about 1200 members. It publishes the monthly The Heavens in Kyoto and the
Bulletin (in English) at irregular intervals. Its office is the Kyoto University
Observatory.
In this paper, the Society of Astronomical Friends was the original name of the
Oriental Astronomical Society, and it was renamed to its present name in 1943. This
society, along with the Astronomical Society of Japan, remains active in research
and the popularization of astronomy.
Yamamoto died of cancer in 1959 at age 70. One of his disciples, Kibe Narimaro
(木辺成麿), wrote in his reminiscences (Kibe 1959):
He [Yamamoto] was essentially a virtuous man, so that he had a single-minded side. He
sometimes thundered at us, but it cleared up after ten minutes. As it might be, he was a
Christian, and he didn’t like drinking or tobacco. We, his disciples, often sighed why he
didn’t like drinking even a little.
4.2 Araki Toshima and Astrophysics
4.2.1 Early Life and Foreign Study (Kiyonaga 1979)
Araki Toshima (荒木俊馬, 1897–1978) was born in Kutami Cho (来民町, presentday city of Yamaga, Kumamoto Prefecture) the son of Araki Takejiro (荒木竹次
郎), principal of a middle school, who died while traveling when Toshima was
13 years old. Toshima entered Kyoto Imperial University and studied astronomy
under Shinjo Shinzo in the Department of Physics. When the Department of
Astronomy was established in 1921, he moved to this new department. After
graduation in 1923, he was appointed lecturer. In the following year he married
Shinjo Kyoko (新城京子), the eldest daughter of Shinjo Shinzo, and he was
promoted to associate professor of astronomy.
Araki’s first work in the Department of Astronomy was on the light variations of
Cepheid and long-period variables in collaboration with his father-in-law (Shinjo
and Araki 1924). These variables reveal some continuous period fluctuations. They
tried to explain such fluctuations as caused by the existence of a third body in
Shinjo’s eccentric-nucleus model (Fig. 2.11). Their interpretation was not successful, and Araki finally abandoned the eccentric-nuclear model and accepted the
pulsation theory of Harlow Shapley (Araki 1925).
In 1929, Araki was sent to the Astrophysical Observatory of Potsdam, where he
studied observational astrophysics under Hans Ludendorff (1873–1941), who was
4.2 Araki Toshima and Astrophysics
89
1. The Astronomical Society of Japan, founded in 1908 by H. Terao, former director
of the Tokyo Observatory, has about 600 members, and its publication was the
Astronomical Herald, published monthly in Tokyo. Its office is in the Tokyo
Observatory.
2. The Society of Astronomical Friends was founded in 1920 by I. Yamamoto. It has
about 1200 members. It publishes the monthly The Heavens in Kyoto and the
Bulletin (in English) at irregular intervals. Its office is the Kyoto University
Observatory.
In this paper, the Society of Astronomical Friends was the original name of the
Oriental Astronomical Society, and it was renamed to its present name in 1943. This
society, along with the Astronomical Society of Japan, remains active in research
and the popularization of astronomy.
Yamamoto died of cancer in 1959 at age 70. One of his disciples, Kibe Narimaro
(木辺成麿), wrote in his reminiscences (Kibe 1959):
He [Yamamoto] was essentially a virtuous man, so that he had a single-minded side. He
sometimes thundered at us, but it cleared up after ten minutes. As it might be, he was a
Christian, and he didn’t like drinking or tobacco. We, his disciples, often sighed why he
didn’t like drinking even a little.
4.2 Araki Toshima and Astrophysics
4.2.1 Early Life and Foreign Study (Kiyonaga 1979)
Araki Toshima (荒木俊馬, 1897–1978) was born in Kutami Cho (来民町, presentday city of Yamaga, Kumamoto Prefecture) the son of Araki Takejiro (荒木竹次
郎), principal of a middle school, who died while traveling when Toshima was
13 years old. Toshima entered Kyoto Imperial University and studied astronomy
under Shinjo Shinzo in the Department of Physics. When the Department of
Astronomy was established in 1921, he moved to this new department. After
graduation in 1923, he was appointed lecturer. In the following year he married
Shinjo Kyoko (新城京子), the eldest daughter of Shinjo Shinzo, and he was
promoted to associate professor of astronomy.
Araki’s first work in the Department of Astronomy was on the light variations of
Cepheid and long-period variables in collaboration with his father-in-law (Shinjo
and Araki 1924). These variables reveal some continuous period fluctuations. They
tried to explain such fluctuations as caused by the existence of a third body in
Shinjo’s eccentric-nucleus model (Fig. 2.11). Their interpretation was not successful, and Araki finally abandoned the eccentric-nuclear model and accepted the
pulsation theory of Harlow Shapley (Araki 1925).
In 1929, Araki was sent to the Astrophysical Observatory of Potsdam, where he
studied observational astrophysics under Hans Ludendorff (1873–1941), who was
4.2 Araki Toshima and Astrophysics
89