Japanese radio astronomy - Past, present, and future.

Abstract

The past, present and future of radio astronomy in Japan are described form the author's personal view point. The radio astronomy in Japan is quickly growing in terms of the telescope size, the budget scale, and the total number of researchers in the country. Profiles of pioneers and predecessors in radio astronomy in Japan are briefly mentioned. Fields of researches pursued in the major radio-astronomy institutions with small and large radio telescopes are also described. The status of the major future projects such as VSOP, VERA, LMSA, and the submillimeter-wave telescope at Mt. Fuji is reviewed.