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This book considers the history of modern astronomy (astrophysics) in Japan by comparing it with its counterparts in western countries. The book begins with short stories on the rise of astrophysics in Europe and America. Astrophysics essentially arose in three separate fields: astronomical spectroscopy, stellar structures, and the survey of celestial objects.

The book introduces readers to the state of astronomy in Japan back to middle of the Edo era (18th-19th centuries), when the dominant policy was one of isolation from the rest of the world. In this time, the chief task of astronomers was to make calendars. Then the scene changes to the early Meiji era (20th century), in the course of which Japanese astronomy came into contact with western cosmologies and was developed through the modernization of Japan. Following the Second World War, astrophysics progressed and eventually flourished. The book ends by highlighting Japanese contributions to international collaboration up to the early 21st century.

Readers of this book will understand how astrophysics has grown into one of the major sciences in Japan, and how the works of individual Japanese astronomers are contributing to the global advancement of knowledge of the universe.