The Milky Way stretches over Yeongyang Firefly Eco Park, an international dark sky park in Yeongyang County, North Gyeongsang Province. Courtesy of Yeongyang County
A sky dark enough to clearly view the Milky Way has become so rare in East Asia that communities now treat darkness as a natural resource worth protecting.
DarkSky International recognizes places that reduce light pollution and preserve views of starry skies. The organization evaluates the faintest stars visible to the naked eye, the brightness of the night sky and the impact of artificial lighting. In practice, the sky must usually be dark enough for visitors to clearly view the Milky Way. Its certified sites include "sanctuaries," "reserves," "parks," "communities" and "urban places."
Those places must meet sky-quality standards and provide regular public access, while communities and urban sites focus more on local efforts to reduce light pollution than on pristine viewing conditions alone.
Across East Asia, DarkSky International has designated only five sites as International Dark Sky Parks. They include one in Korea, two in Japan, one in Taiwan and one in mainland China. The list shows that darkness now depends not only on geography, but also on dark sky-friendly fixtures, lighting rules, public cooperation and, in some cases, limits on access.
Korea has only one International Dark Sky Park, Yeongyang Firefly Eco Park in Yeongyang County, North Gyeongsang Province. DarkSky International designated the park in 2015, recognizing an area with low light pollution and exceptional stargazing.
A night view of Yeongyang International Dark Sky Park in Subi-myeon, Yeongyang County, North Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of North Gyeongsang Province
Japan’s Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park, in Okinawa prefecture’s Yaeyama Islands, became the country’s first International Dark Sky Park in 2018. Iriomote Island sits in Japan’s southernmost national park and preserves the country’s only tropical rainforest. With little human disturbance, dense mangrove forests remain intact, creating clear conditions for visitors to see the Milky Way and 84 constellations with the naked eye.
The Yaeyama Islands have more than 50,000 residents, yet local communities accepted the trade-offs to reduce light pollution. Local governments lowered streetlight brightness and installed shields to curb upward light pollution. Those changes helped the park secure certification, showing that a dark sky can depend as much on civic choices as on remoteness.
Japan added a second site in 2020, when Kozushima Island in Tokyo’s Izu Islands became an International Dark Sky Park. The remote Pacific island lies about 180 kilometers south of central Tokyo and is a four-hour ferry ride away. It covers about 18 square kilometers, has roughly 1,800 residents and belongs entirely to Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.
Source: Korea Times News
