JAPAN: Thousands flock to southern Japanese islands to see the century's longest total eclipse

Record ID: 465184

  • Title: JAPAN: Thousands flock to southern Japanese islands to see the century's longest total eclipse
  • Date: 23rd July 2009
  • Summary: PEOPLE AT OBSERVATION POINT
  • Embargoed: 7th August 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Nature / Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVA491O0FWRBOCTNBX001OEP1VYK
  • Story Text: About 15,000 tourists gathered on the southern Japanese island of Amami Oshima Wednesday (July 22) to view the century's longest total solar eclipse.
    Although the cloudy weather wasn't perfect for the event, viewers were able to see the sun by the time the eclipse started around 9:30 a.m. local time (0030GMT).
    "It almost made me cry. My legs were shaking," said Tatsuya Miyakoshi, 36, a businessman from Tokyo.
    Another tourist, 25-year-old business woman Kaori Tamada from Yamagata, said. "It was cloudy so I wish we could have seen the Diamond Ring more clearly, but it was like a fantasy-come-true and will stay with me as a good memory."
    At around 11 a.m. local time (0200GMT), the sun appeared almost completely hidden behind the moon.
    "The Sun got eaten by the Moon!" said 3-year-old Taiyo Miura, whose first name happens to mean the "Sun" in Japanese.
    Many shops were closed Wednesday as the locals of the island with a population of 68,000 took a day off to join the eclipse-viewing.
    The total solar eclipse darkened the skies for millions of people across Asia for more than six minutes in some places.
    The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century was visible in a roughly 250 km-wide (155 miles) corridor as it travels half the globe and passes through the world's two most populous nations, India and China.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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