Source: Peatix

*Applications open from 12:00 on Wednesday, October 1, 2025. Tickets will be sold out while supplies last.

[First Star Storytelling Session]

We welcomed Shinpei Shibata, founder of Star Sommelier, to hold a talk session that provided an opportunity to immerse oneself deeply in astronomy and the universe.

1) A quirky guide to the starry sky
2) When creatures meet in space: An encounter with an alien told through poetry and music?
*Delivered as a two-frame set with a break in between

Date and time: Sunday, November 9, 2025, 10:00-12:10 (with breaks during the event)
(Part 1 and Part 2 are approximately 50 minutes each, plus a Q&A session)

Doors open: 9:45am
Venue: Shibuya Cultural Center Owada, 2nd floor, Study Room 7
Capacity: 18 people (applications will be accepted on a first come first served basis, and will close once capacity is reached)
Participation fee: 3,500 yen
*We cannot offer exchanges or refunds for tickets, so please be careful not to make a mistake when purchasing.

Target: High school students and above
What to bring: Writing implements if you want to take notes

How to check in on the day: Please state the name you used when registering at the reception desk.

Contents:
★Part 1★ A quirky guide to the starry sky (approx. 50 minutes)
We will be bringing you three episodes of unconventional commentary on the starry sky that gets to the heart of the matter.
① If someone asks you, "Why do stars shine?" and you start explaining nuclear fusion, you're not qualified to be a stargazing guide!
② Measuring the distance to the stars is very difficult for astronomers, but astrologers may have done it easily.
③ Is it true that the universe is expanding? Let me explain using an easy-to-understand diagram shown by the James Webb Space Telescope.

★Part 2★ When creatures meet in space ~An encounter with an alien told through poetry and music?~ (approx. 50 minutes)
A poem was written in response to a simple question from a student: "Teacher! What do you think aliens are like?" This will allow us to take another look at the nature of the universe.

Lecturer Introduction
Born in 1954, PhD in Astrophysics, retired from the Faculty of Science at Yamagata University.
Researcher at the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, and Tohoku Bunkyo University.
Representative director of the NPO Star Sommelier Organization.
Founder of the Star Sommelier® (starry sky guide) certification system.
With the establishment of the Star Sommelier System,
the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award in the field of science and technology in 2010;
He received the Astronomy Education Promotion Award from the Astronomical Society of Japan in 2020.
Books about starry sky guides: "Let's become a starry sky guide!" Published by Gijutsu Hyoronsha on October 25, 2007 (ISBN: 978-4-7741-3197-9)

Venue