The Sagamihara City Museum will hold a planetarium reading event titled "Hoshi Furu Yoru no Rodokukai" (a night of falling stars) on Saturday, September 12. Junko Miura, an actor trained by So Kuramoto at the Furano Juku theater school and now a member of the Bungakuza theater company, will read two stories that look at the universe and nature through Kuramoto's and Kenji Miyazawa's eyes. Under the planetarium's dome, visitors are invited to reflect once more on our connection to nature and the questions it raises for us.
Event Overview
Date and Time: Saturday, September 12, 2026, 3:30 PM–4:30 PM
Venue: Sagamihara City Museum, Kiraboshi Ginga Planetarium (3-1-15 Takane, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa)
https://sagamiharacitymuseum.jp/
Program:
- Reading of Hito ni Tou by So Kuramoto
- Reading of Yodaka no Hoshi (often translated as "The Nighthawk Star") by Kenji Miyazawa
Performer: Junko Miura (actor), reading
Capacity: 180 people (advance reservation required via the museum website; accepted from noon on August 22 through noon on September 12, first come, first served)
Admission:
- Adults (high school age and up): ¥1,000
- Children (elementary and junior high school age): ¥400
- Ages 65 and up: ¥500 (certificate required)
- Free for preschoolers and for elementary/junior high school students who live or attend school within the city (school name may be requested for confirmation)
- Annual passes cannot be used for this event
Reservations: Advance reservation required through the online application form below (accepted from noon on August 22 through noon on September 12, first come, first served)
https://logoform.jp/form/oWjU/1728222
About the Performer
Junko Miura
Actor
After completing the Furano Juku theater school, Miura trained at the theatrical research institute affiliated with the Bungakuza theater company and is now a Bungakuza member. Her television credits include Kodoku no Gurume 9 (TV Tokyo), Aibou (TV Asahi), Ooku and Otonari ni Ginga (NHK), and Ignite - Ho no Muhosha - (TBS), along with numerous commercials, including a Coca-Cola Japan mugicha (barley tea) campaign.
About the Featured Works
Hito ni Tou by So Kuramoto
Addressed to every person in Japan who has grown too accustomed to convenience and abundance, this book gathers what screenwriter So Kuramoto wrote over two and a half years following the events of March 11, 2011 (3/11): a warning for our times about nature and the form civilization ought to take.
Yodaka no Hoshi ("The Nighthawk Star") by Kenji Miyazawa
A picture-book adaptation of Miyazawa's classic tale about a nighthawk shunned for its plain appearance and threatened by hawks. Despairing that its own survival depends on eating insects, the nighthawk flies off toward the sky beyond, in a story that captures the bird's deep sorrow.
