The Astronomy Department of Asahi Shimbun has been awarded the Education Outreach Award from the Astronomical Society of Japan for its live broadcasts of starry skies.
On March 3rd, the Astronomical Society of Japan announced that it would award the Education Outreach Award for the 2025 academic year to Masayoshi Higashiyama, the deputy director of digital planning and reporting at Asahi Shimbun, for his contributions through the newspaper’s YouTube channel 'Asahi Astro LIVE.' In collaboration with institutions like the National Astronomical Observatory and the University of Tokyo, the channel has been streaming live footage of the night sky from locations including the Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii and the Tokyo University Kiso Observatory in Nagano Prefecture.
The award ceremony is set to take place on the 5th, where Higashiyama will be recognized alongside another organization and an individual. Established in 2018, this award honors notable contributions to astronomy education, outreach, and communication. Higashiyama, who launched the 'Asahi Astro LIVE' channel in 2021, has gained popularity for live streaming celestial phenomena and space events. The channel has amassed over 127,000 subscribers by March 2026, reflecting its significant impact on the public's interest in astronomy.
In addition to its outreach efforts, the channel has made scientific contributions by observing a rare astronomical phenomenon known as a 'meteor cluster' three times, with related research papers published in the Journal of the Astronomical Society of Japan. The Astronomical Society highlighted the channel’s commitment to providing high-quality live images of the night sky from both domestic and international observatories, further underscoring the importance of such educational initiatives in astronomy education and public engagement in Japan.
