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From: Stig_Agermose@online.pol.dk (Stig Agermose)
Date: Thu, 4 Sep 1997 04:28:37 +0200
Fwd Date: Thu, 04 Sep 1997 08:22:11 -0400
Subject: Japan's UFO Capital (Sightings, Ancient Documents
>From ABC News September 2 1997. URL:
http://www.abcnews.com:80/sections/scitech/ufojapan902/index.html
The Search for Aliens
UFOs Bring Masses to Rural Japan
=93Everyone started talking about the myths associated with this town.=94
=97 Takashi Ishiyama
H A K U I,=BF=BFJapan,=BFSept. 2 =97 Long known for seafood and beaches,
Hakui now draws tourists from around the world for its obsession with
UFOs, as the town's UFO-themed restaurants, pinball gaming centers,
bars and hot spring resorts attest.
At the center of this celestial activity is the town's most popular
attraction, Cosmo Isle Hakui, a UFO and space museum shaped, of course,
like a large flying saucer.
The driving force behind the museum, located in Ishikawa Prefecture's
rugged Noto peninsula along the Sea of Japan coast, is its director,
Johsen Takano, a scientist and UFO buff who has turned a lifelong hobby
into a paying job.
Takano's electronics background and leadership of the town's "mystery
club" convinced town fathers to cough up public funds to build the
museum, which opened in July 1996.
"We have three themes: space and space development, SETI or the search
for extraterrestrial intelligence, and then UFOs," said Takano, SETI
and UFO Science Museum Habitable Zone Director.
Restoring Terrestial Life
The museum has space-related equipment from the United States and
Russia on display, UFO-related materials, a library and a research
center. Information on UFOs discuss aerial phenomena, alien abductions,
crop circles, UFO contacts and radio transmissions related to SETI.
Vice director Takashi Ishiyama said local officials turned to UFO's to
revitalize the town after its population was decimated by an exodus of
young people to the cities.
"Usually, governments wouldn't participate in this kind of thing. But
with our government's lead and attention from the mass media, everyone
started talking about the myths associated with this town," Ishiyama
said.
Legend of Shohachibun
The town, which boasts the most reported UFO sightings in Japan, is
steeped in alien folklore and legend.
"There is one legend called shohachibun, which says cymbal-like
flashing lights were seen flying from one end of the mountain to the
other," said Ishiyama.
"Another legend tells of children being taken away in a big nabe (stew)
pan while playing."
But it is the town's ancient Ketataisha shrine, regarded as one of the
four main shrines in Japan, that may hold the key to the town's
preoccupation with strange phenomena.
"Ancient documents kept in the town's Ketataisha shrine talk about
flashing lights in the sky and the hand of god controlling them. The
story has been passed down from generation to generation." Ishiyama
said.
Earthly Possibilities Identified
Although there was opposition from residents at first to using tax
money for the museum, they finally came around to the idea as much out
of curiosity as the commercial possibilities.
Around the corner from the museum is the UFO ramen restaurant, which
serves up a heaping bowl of noodles garnished with little octopus balls
shaped like aliens.
After a long day of sightseeing, visitors can also relax at the town's
"Euphoria" hot springs.
Further up north are some of the region's most famous hot spring
resorts, which draw tourists from countries like Taiwan who have made
the museum a necessary stop on their tour.
Officials expect 200,000 people to visit this year.
"I don't believe in UFO's but this is interesting nevertheless," said
housewife Masako Minami, as she eyed the burned shell of the Russian
space capsule Vostok used to make the first manned space flight, in
1961.
"I grew up during the space race, so this is interesting."
Academic Aspirations
Takano said the aim of the museum is not just to attract tourists, but
to become a leading research center for people interested in
researching and studying UFOs.
Hakui has hosted several international space and UFO conferences in the
past and the last one in May, held in the museum, attracted top
scientists and researchers from the U.S. Naval Research Centre and
NASA's SETI Institute.
Takano said he started to believe in the existence of alien life after
obtaining declassified U.S. top-secret information.
He said data from the U.S. Air Force Academy shows that the UFOs have
been around for 50,000 years and there is the existence of three to
four groups of aliens.
"The conclusion is the unpleasant possibility that there have been
alien visitors to our planet or alien-controlled UFOs," he said.
Copyright 1997 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
SCI/TECH NEWS
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