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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 Islands 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.
"Subodhana Wijeyeratne has produced a landmark study on the Japanese space program that will become the standard work on the subject. Drawing on a wealth of archival and published Japanese sources, he situates the creation of the space program in broader debates, trends, and turning points in the history of modern Japan. In that sense, this is book is essential reading for historians and public alike interested in modern Japan's engagement with science and technology in the 20th century." —Asif Siddiqi, Fordham University
"Wijeyeratne is a specialist in the history of technology in Asia. He brings academic rigor to his topic... but without sacrificing clarity." —Martin Laflamme, Nikkei Asia
"The Islands and the Stars is a fascinating look at Japan and space. Anyone interested in space history or wishing to learn about Japan's aspirations and achievements should wish to read it." —Mark Lardas, National Space Society
"Wijeyeratne's book is the most ambitious and well-sourced academic study yet undertaken of a Japanese space program that continues to reach for new horizons." —Tyler Peterson, H-Sci-Med-Tech
Notes on Naming Conventions
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
PART I: Child of War, 1920–1960
1. The Transwar Origins of Japanese Rocketry
2. Demilitarizing Rocketry in the Postwar Period
PART II: The Institutionalization of Japanese Space Research, 1960–1980
3. Manager-Specialists in Japan's Space Program
4. Influence of Commercial Interest
5. Welcome and Resistance to Japanese Space Facilities
PART III: The Challenges of Advanced Spacefaring, 1980–2003
6. Disseminating and Debating Japanese Space Policy
7. Growing Ambitions and Difficulties with the United States
8. Success and Failure in the 1990s
9. Reform and the Creation of JAXA
Conclusion
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index