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Research facility · Mitaka-shi · Japan

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

In research, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan stands highest in Astronomy and Astrophysics (#48 of 443 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#1,499 of 12,888 worldwide) and Physics and Astronomy (#464 of 1,646 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Physics and Astronomy — Astronomy and Astrophysics is 99.3× its share of world research.

nao.ac.jpROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#2,668
of 28,054 · #2,187 all time
Rank in Japan
#42
of 1,070
Research works
5.1k
▼ 14% vs 2013–17
Citations
114k
22.3 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
25.1%
record average 16.5%
Open access
55%
world 28%

What is National Astronomical Observatory of Japan known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #48 of 443 28.3%231 #80
Physical SciencesDomain #1,499 of 12,888 25.8%432 #1425
Physics and AstronomyField #464 of 1,646 29.8%323 #675
EngineeringField #5,743 of 6,636 9.1%62 #3077

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where National Astronomical Observatory of Japan sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Astronomy and Astrophysics#80 #48
  2. Physical Sciences#1,425 #1,499
  3. Physics and Astronomy#675 #464
  4. Engineering#3,077 #5,743
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does National Astronomical Observatory of Japan specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 99.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 230.9 works99×
  2. InstrumentationSubfield · 21.9 works98×
  3. Physics and AstronomyField · 323.1 works32×
  4. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 40.8 works29×
  5. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 22.4 works7.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.10× its world share, 2 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 0.41× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.18× its world share, 8 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.24× its world share, 8 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2.70× its world share, 19 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.92× its world share, 62 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.22× its world share, 5 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.16× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.67× its world share, 4 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 32.46× its world share, 323 worksPhysics and AstronomyMedicine: 0.04× its world share, 4 worksMedicineArts and Humanities: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesDecision Sciences: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.13× its world share, 7 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 32.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at National Astronomical Observatory of Japan?

Ranked on the composite score, Hisanori Furusawa, S. Tsuneta and Toshifumi Shimizu lead among researchers whose main affiliation is National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

  1. 1 Hisanori Furusawa Japan · #28,336 worldwide 705 citations · 42 works
  2. 2 S. Tsuneta Japan · #46,191 worldwide 733 citations · 113 works
  3. 3 Toshifumi Shimizu Japan · #47,857 worldwide 416 citations · 92 works
  4. 4 Yukio Katsukawa Japan · #56,103 worldwide 346 citations · 69 works
  5. 5 Y. Suematsu Japan · #56,842 worldwide 391 citations · 82 works
  6. 6 Nobunari Kashikawa Japan · #58,027 worldwide 737 citations · 62 works
  7. 7 K. Hayama Japan · #58,947 worldwide 536 citations · 63 works
  8. 8 Tomoaki Oyama Japan · #65,613 worldwide 300 citations · 40 works
  9. 9 Y. Aso Japan · #80,714 worldwide 413 citations · 48 works
  10. 10 Hajime Sotani Japan · #83,875 worldwide 591 citations · 57 works
All ranked researchers at National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Which keywords describe research at National Astronomical Observatory of Japan?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Star Formation, Accretion Disks, Magnetic Fields, Exoplanets, Stellar Astrophysics, Black Holes, Gravitational Waves and Turbulence.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Star Formation61▲ 261×2 topics
  2. Accretion Disks48▲ 229×2 topics
  3. Magnetic Fields48▲ 166×2 topics
  4. Exoplanets43▲ 244×1 topic
  5. Stellar Astrophysics43▲ 244×1 topic
  6. Black Holes41▲ 96×3 topics
  7. Gravitational Waves40▲ 162×2 topics
  8. Turbulence36▲ 93×4 topics
  9. Molecular Clouds35▲ 316×1 topic
  10. Protoplanetary Disks35▲ 316×1 topic
  11. Dark Matter33▲ 64×4 topics
  12. Supernovae31▲ 85×2 topics
  13. Cosmology29▲ 98×4 topics
  14. Nucleosynthesis28▲ 127×3 topics
  15. Galaxies26▲ 212×1 topic
  16. Stellar Populations26▲ 212×1 topic
  17. Gamma-Ray Bursts25▲ 208×1 topic
  18. Neutron Stars25▲ 208×1 topic
  19. Solar System Abundances24▲ 112×1 topic
  20. Terrestrial Planets24▲ 112×1 topic
  21. Astronomical Instrumentation21▲ 188×1 topic
  22. Spectrograph21▲ 188×1 topic
  23. Cosmic Rays21▲ 95×2 topics
  24. Neutrinos21▲ 95×2 topics
  25. High-Energy Astrophysics19▲ 158×1 topic
  26. Particle Acceleration19▲ 158×1 topic
  27. Equation of State16▲ 66×2 topics
  28. Binary Black Hole16▲ 120×1 topic
  29. Neutron Star16▲ 120×1 topic
  30. Galactic Center15▲ 73×2 topics
  31. Solar Wind14▲ 33×2 topics
  32. X-Ray Spectroscopy12▲ 64×2 topics
  33. Event Horizon Telescope12▲ 128×1 topic
  34. X-Ray Astronomy12▲ 128×1 topic
  35. Radio Astronomy12▲ 115×2 topics
  36. Adaptive Optics11▲ 195×1 topic
  37. Wavefront Sensing11▲ 195×1 topic
  38. Coronal Mass Ejections11▲ 66×1 topic
  39. Solar Dynamics Observatory11▲ 66×1 topic
  40. Epoch of Reionization9▲ 159×1 topic

Which research topics does National Astronomical Observatory of Japan publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies, Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies, Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena and Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae.

Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 43 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 35 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evo…26Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 26 fractional worksGamma-ray bursts and sup…25Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 25 fractional worksAstro and Planetary Science: 24 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysical Research: 21 fractional worksAstrophysics and Cosmic …19Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena: 19 fractional worksPulsars and Gravitational Waves Research: 16 fractional worksAstrophysical Phenomena and Observations: 12 fractional worksAdaptive optics and wavefront sensing: 11 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsInstrumentationNuclear and High Energy PhysicsAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 43 works
  2. 2 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 35 works
  3. 3 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 26 works
  4. 4 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Astronomy and Astrophysics 25 works
  5. 5 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 24 works
  6. 6 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 21 works
  7. 7 Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena Nuclear and High Energy Physics 19 works
  8. 8 Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research Astronomy and Astrophysics 16 works
  9. 9 Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations Astronomy and Astrophysics 12 works
  10. 10 Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 11 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available54.7%not open45.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors35.2%domestic only64.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 14% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Mitaka-shi

All research institutions in Mitaka-shi

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.