The islands and the stars : a history of Japan's space programs / Subodhana Wijeyeratne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wijeyeratne, Subodhana, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Uchū Kōkū Kenkyū Kaihatsu Kikō--History.

Uchū Kōkū Kenkyū Kaihatsu Kikō.

Astronautics and state--Japan--History.

Astronautics and state.

Rocketry--Japan--History.

Rocketry.

Outer space--Exploration--Japan--History.

Outer space.

Physical Description:

xvi, 334 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2026]

Summary:

"The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is among the six largest national space agencies in the world, along with China's CNSA, US's NASA, and Russia's Roscosmos. JAXA's budget is more than $1 billion USD - bigger than France or Germany individually, and more than that of Italy, India, Canada, and the UK combined. And yet, Japan's significant contributions have largely been absent in the history of space exploration, and space exploration largely absent in the history of technology in Japan. The Island and the Stars corrects this conspicuous oversight. Through meticulous archival research in Japanese and anglophone archives, Subodhana Wijeyeratne examines the history of Japan's space exploration efforts over nearly a century. Wijeyeratne traces the evolution of Japan's space program from its early origins in the 1920s, through the postwar period of rapid technological innovation, to the consolidation of its various institutional elements into JAXA in 2003. He situates Japan's space programs within the broader history of the country's postwar recovery, economic growth, and cultural identity, while also considering their place within global trends in space exploration. Through this narrative, Wijeyeratne not only illuminates Japan's centrality to the global history of science and technology, but also offers insights into the future of global space exploration, emphasizing the importance of diverse voices and perspectives in the quest to understand our place in the cosmos"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I. Child of War, 1920-1960. The transwar origins of Japanese rocketry

Demilitarizing rocketry in the postwar period

Part II. The Institutionalization of Japanese Space Research, 1960-1980. Manager-specialists in Japan's space program

Influence of commercial interest

Welcome and resistance to Japanese space facilities

Part III. The Challenges of Advanced Spacefaring, 1980-2003. Disseminating and debating Japanese space policy

Growing ambitions and difficulties with the United States

Success and failure in 1990s

Reform and the creation of JAXA.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-317) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Wijeyeratne, Subodhana. Islands and the stars.

ISBN:

9781503644144

1503644146

9781503644786

1503644782

OCLC:

1501527390