Monday, October 24, 2011

Inside Meteor Plaza

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This is what Meteor Plaza was built around, its the Mihonoseki meteorite, a 6.8 kilo piece of rock that smashed through a house in the nearby fishing village of Sozu on the night of December 10th, 1992.

There were violent thunderstorms that night so the residents didnt notice it until they found the holes in their roof and floors next morning.

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The meteor is diplayed inside the conical section of this unusual building. The section of the building modelled on the shape of the meteor itself houses a 500 seat auditorium. I think they were a little optimistic about how many visitors would want to come and see the meteor. When we visited we were the only ones there in the vast, cavernous space.

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Inbetween showings of a short movie about the meteor the hall is lit with a kind of light and music show.

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Adjacent to the auditorium is a small museum showing photos and press clippings as well as sections of the roof and floor that the meteor passed through.

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The strange interior shape of the auditorium lent itself to photos of unusual geometric shadow patterns...

Meteor Plaza was designed by architect Shin Takamatsu, and photos of the unusual exterior can be seen in this previous post.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks, Ojisanjake - that answered my question about what was inside Meteor Plaza! Great photos.

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  2. The crowds in Japan are some of the strangest in the world. It's frequently all or nothing. Some places on a weekday will be devoid of people. Head there on a Sunday or during Golden Week and you can't move due to the number of people.

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