Thank you for your attention to our product, the ATP. Many people have asked us how to get the ATPs, but we cannot ship ATPs to foreign customers. Because we are busy for our studying... We are sorry for not meeting your expectations. If we had enough budget and time and human resources, we could provide our precious stuff.
As we said we cannot ship, but we can show you the printing plate of ATP English ver (product ATP is just in Japanese). Please enjoy!

Amano-chan, a member of ATP working group. 13 May, 2006.


The Astronomical Toilet Paper (ATP) is a novel tool for popularization of astronomy.

When you look up to the sky, you can feel the expansiveness of the universe. Astronomy is a backyard matter in itself. This close relation, however, sometimes makes you be oblivious to the fascinating aspect of astronomy. With the ATP, we can bring fruits of astronomy in dairy scenes of the public.

The ATP is the first product of the TENPLA Project, a community of students, astronomers, and staffs of science museums and planetariums in Japan for popularization of astronomy.

The prototype of the ATP is funded by the NISSAN Science Foundation.



On the paper sheet of the ATP, some images and explanations are printed. We have started to sell the ATP No.001, and now are preparing the second version.

  • ATP No. 001: "Life of a Star"
      The first theme is the life of a star. The process of star evolution from a molecular cloud in interstellar space to a main sequence star with planetary system via baby star stage, growing up to red giant, and the end of life as a planetary nebula is shown in six panels on the paper sheet. The unit of printing size is fixed to 70 cm according to convenience of printing machine. Then this theme is advantageous for us because there is a strong resemblance between the 10 billion-year life cycle of stars -star birth, death and rebirth- and the 70cm cycle of print in the paper.

      This version of ATP is commercially available at some museum shops in Japan and the AstroArts Online Shop. The article is only in Japanese, but an English translation is available here (pdf).
  • ATP No.002: "Beyond the Zodiac"
      In the second version, we represent the signs of zodiac and some astronomical objects toward these constellations. You can feel the depth of the universe with this ATP.

    • You can get more nice pics on www.tenpla.net/atp/.
    We would appreciate your informing us of any questions, comments or requests you may have.
    mail to :
    Produced by the ATP-WG, The TENPLA Project
  • Supervise: Takanashi N., Hiramatsu M., Kamegai K., Naito S., & Tsukada K.
  • Design: Natsugari S. @ MAO
    Printed by Tsuyuki Shikou Co., Ltd.

    • [update:2005/08/07]