Japanese explorers, who almost reached the South Pole

Summer has arrived in the Southern Hemisphere and with it the 110th anniversary of one of the most difficult challenges on our planet.

This is when two figures emerged as legends: Roald Amundsen from Norway, whose legacy was secured when he became the first person to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911;

But his rival, who accomplished the same feat, died in the attempt, and possibly gained even more fame than him.

British explorer Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, 34 days after Amundsen, and died on the return journey.

Many books were written and several films were made about his journey to the Pole. The scientific base established here was named after him and thus his name became immortal.

But both of them had another competitor. A campaigner whose name resonates less than his illustrious contemporaries.

But now his fame is crossing the borders of his homeland as his story is resurfacing.

These anonymous adventurers were as eager as their European competitors to make their place in history, but their country had little interest in the challenge. They were considered strange and unpatriotic for doing so.

Nobu Shirase was born in 1861 in Konora (now the city of Nakaho), Japan. At that time, Japan’s ruling family, the Tokugawa Shogunate, prohibited anyone from leaving the country. Anyone who tried to do so was caught and sentenced to death.

When the Shogunate was overthrown in 1868 after the Bushen Civil War and Japan’s new ruling Meiji dynasty began to slowly reform the country, the law was abolished, but few Japanese still left their homeland. Chose to leave.

Shirase was different from him.

After serving with the Army in the Alaskan Arctic in 1893, his passion for polar exploration and exploration was instilled in him.

He later became part of a secret military operations team on the Coral Islands, a disputed maritime territory with Russia for centuries.

His poorly armed group suffered extreme suffering and starvation before they left in 1895. They endured two disease-ridden winters on the islands in adverse conditions, during which 19 of their companions died. He was one of only two Japanese to get out alive, but his enthusiasm grew. He wanted to conquer the situation and increase the glory of his nation.

The only problem was that his nation had no interest in it (conquest). Outside of Japan, the race to conquer the poles of the planet had gained popular popularity, and much of the patriotic media in those countries was encouraging the race.

As the era of colonialism was coming to a humiliating end, hegemony between nations was being contested by other means. National conquests replaced hegemonic triumphs. It was a different kind of imperialism. But there was nothing like that in Japan.

Shirase initially wanted to be the first person to conquer the North Pole, but when American explorers Robert Perry and Frederick Cook claimed to have conquered it in 1909 (which is disputed), their focus shifted to Antarctica.

In January 1910, Shirase presented his plans to the highest representatives of the Japanese Empire. He promised to raise the Japanese flag at the South Pole within three years, but the imperial representatives were not impressed. Geographical exploration was a completely foreign concept to them. They could not understand their point of view.

Despite this denial the undaunted Shirase began his preparations.

From their time in Alaska they had already deliberately adopted a lifestyle with few resources to enable themselves to survive in the frozen wilderness. They did not keep their house warm, did not consume hot food and drinks and also avoided alcohol and tobacco.

However, their biggest challenge was time and money. Realizing that the government would not fund him for this conquest, Shirase turned to the public for his scientific mission, similar to Scott’s fundraising campaign in Britain.

He insisted that his journey would not be to conquer the Pole, but instead to study the continent, its geology, its fossils, its fauna and its climate. Whatever impression he was giving to the Japanese people, his goal was to reach the Pole.

Although the Japanese press continued to ridicule him. In discouraging them, the press said that figures like Albert Einstein were not meant to collect rocks or measure the wind.

But the situation caught the attention of former Prime Minister Shigenubu Okuma. With the help of them and small donations from the students, a small amount of money was raised for Shirase’s mission at a time when it seemed that they would be left empty-handed. These funds were still inadequate but they had to live with it.

But until now Shirase was facing delays. Both Amundsen and Scott made expeditions to the South Pole in the mid-1910s. Shirase’s modified fishing vessel ‘Kenan Maru’ and its crew of 27 did not leave Tokyo until November 29.

Then some of the students who had donated to him said goodbye and thus he was more than three months behind Amundsen. It was going to make all the difference.

In January 1911, Amundsen established a base at the Bay of Wheels in Antarctica. That same month, Scott moved to Cape Evans. The two intended to spend the entire winter in the Antarctic, study the continent, and leave for the Pole the following summer. They would depart as soon as conditions permitted in mid-October (in the end Scott’s team did not depart until November and Amundsen left first).

Shirase intended to do the same, but his early delays and bad weather conditions on the way meant that he arrived very late, in March 1911.

Scott’s ship ‘Terra Nova’ and Amundson’s ‘Frame’ had already left for New Zealand and would not return until the following spring to bring supplies for those left behind.

By March the sea had already frozen over and it was impossible for Shirase to land at sea as storms surrounded the ship and the coastline. Their ship was in danger of getting stuck in the ice and being crushed. In fact, more than once the captain’s skill came in handy to break free from the sea ice.

But the chief officer later said: ‘All we could see there were icebergs, ice and penguins.’

Frustrated with the situation, Shirase had to return to Sydney to spend the winter. News had already reached Australia from New Zealand, where their ship had anchored before sailing to Antarctica, that their ship, indeed the entire expedition, was ill-equipped and under-equipped, and that their preparations were incomplete. was

Compared to her competitors’ ships, the Kenan Maru was a three-masted sailing vessel and her engine was notably underpowered.

New Zealand newspapers reported that Shirase’s sled was made of poor bamboo, the maps and charts he had were sketchy, while the groceries supplied included squid (seafood), beans, rice and pickles, dried fish and yogurt. was All of these foods lacked the calories needed to sustain humans in the harsh climates of the polar regions.

Amundsen and Scott, on the other hand, relied on an abundant supply of dried meat, including fat and berries.

Robert Hedland, a senior associate professor specializing in historical polar geography at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, says: ‘The expedition lacked the necessary equipment in terms of quality compared to its contemporaries. Their food was particularly unsatisfactory, but apparently because they had not wintered in Antarctica they did not need the equipment that Scott and Amundson needed.’

In his notes, Shirase wrote that the New Zealand Times had contemptuously commented that ‘we were a crew of monkeys adrift in a useless boat and that the polar regions were no place for wild animals like us. . Our likeness to animals may have been symbolic, but many people in New Zealand saw it as true, and crowds of people flocked to our tents every day to see the exhibiting gorillas, maddened to conquer the South Pole.’

Australians were also skeptical about him. Was Shirase a true adventurer or was he looking for a new conquest after Japan’s recent victories in the wars against China and Russia? Or at least looking for new fishing waters? Of course, many Australians were wary of their crew’s presence.

Headland says: ‘Anti-Japanese sentiment was at its height in Europe and Australia. The nation was building an army and outsiders knew nothing about Japan. It is fair to say that the only way most Westerners knew of life in Japan was the 1885 comic opera ‘Da Mikado’ by Gilbert and Sullivan.’

With such limited knowledge of Japanese culture it was perhaps no surprise that Shirase and his crew were treated like ‘guests’ in Sydney.

Afraid to disembark and with little money and food, his crew remained on board until Australian geologist and polar researcher at the University of Sydney, Tenat Ejorth David, spoke in support of Shirase in the Australian press.

Eventually the crew managed to set up tents on the beach land offered by David and escape from the prison-like confines of their ship. Shirase thanks David by giving him his samurai sword. This sword is now preserved in a museum in Australia.

Despite racism and growing skepticism, Shirase announced that he would return to Antarctica in the spring, leaving for the pole in mid-September and returning in late February, having completed a journey of more than 870 miles. will

But trouble awaited them. Their food and drink supplies were running out, the dogs they had brought to pull their sleds died, and as the weather remained unfavorable for departure, Shirase’s dream began to fade.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald that he was changing his plans. Their mission will be purely scientific and will not include any attempt to conquer the Pole.

They again headed south on 19 November and reached Antarctica near the Admiralty Mountains in early January 1912 on a summer day. The weather was fine and his ship the Kianan Maru sailed across the Ross Sea and passed near Amundsen’s winter base. They were also shown the rival ship ‘Frame’ awaiting their return from the Pole (and Shirase became convinced that their dream would never come true).

They eventually landed on the Ross Ice Shelf and became the first Japanese to set foot on the southern continent.

The attraction of the pole was too much for them. It was a landmark for them and a magnet that was pulling them towards it. So close yet so far.

He had insisted that his team would limit itself to scientific research, but the weather was good and he had dreamed of this opportunity for so long. Perhaps modern sensibilities would condone this humiliation, but he doubted the government and the people would. However, he decided to travel south.

They thought they had 20 days worth of supplies and wanted to see how far they could go with such limited resources. They chose four key men to pull the ‘weak’ bamboo sleds and the rest took the dogs and set out on a mission they called ‘dash patrolling’.

His team included his lead scientist, Terutaro Takeda, and the crew’s best sled dog handlers.

According to Hedland: ‘They had enough supplies for a summer in the Antarctic. Some of his team members were from the Ainu community, who were familiar with Japan’s bitterly cold weather, and their dogs and sleeping bags could all cope with summer conditions.’

But unfortunately the weather changed (as Scott also had to face this danger) and they encountered storm after storm and had to struggle hard to get out of it and reach their tents.

They suffered frostbite and most of their dogs died. On January 28, Shirase decided he had no choice but to head home.

Takeda estimated that they were 80 degrees 5 minutes south, more than 150 miles from their base on the coast. They hoisted the Japanese flag, saluted him, put the details of their journey in a copper box, buried it in the snow, and started back.

On February 3, just 18 days after his arrival, he was leaving for Tokyo.

Despite suffering on his long journey south for little reward, it is certain that the hardest part of Shirase’s story was yet to come. Surprisingly, when he arrived in Tokyo in June, he was treated like a hero. His student supporters praised his efforts and public opinion changed somewhat.

But then news came that Amundsen had overtaken him in reaching the Pole, that his mission had started late, that the equipment was faulty, that the planning was not good and that he had only been in Antarctica for a short time. Interest waned.

Shirase knew his fate even before he got back, having made many predictions about it in his diary. In the early 20th century, Japan was a society where failure was considered shameful. Also he went on a mission that was not officially supported, and he got to hear ‘we told you so’. This meant that Shirase would spend his life deprived of the fame that his achievements might have deserved.

He knew full well that if the government, which refused him, had offered to fund his mission, he could have reached Antarctica when Amundsen and Scott were there, and thus had a better chance of success. could be found But the public cared little for any excuse, however legitimate.

It seemed that they were always destined to live in the shadow of the two Europeans. Even his scientific analyzes were unremarkable, and Takeda’s scientific credentials were later disproved, adding to the woes of the unfortunate Shirase. There was no room in the narrative of the Pole Race for a man who couldn’t even finish third.

Perhaps worse, his one-time sponsor, Okuma, had also shunned him and was no longer settling his bills. This campaign plunged him into debt. His memoir, written in 1913, and film footage of the mission did not sell for the price that had been hoped for.

He could no longer afford his household and lived the remaining 34 years of his life in relative obscurity with his wife Yasu. He died in 1946 at the age of 85 in his flat above a fish shop in Toyota.

Initially, his campaign received little attention outside of Japan. But in 1933 the first short English-language account of his trip appeared in a geographical journal, and later that year he was made honorary president when the Japanese Polar Research Institute was founded. By the time of his death, he had paid off all his debts.

Since his death, Shirase’s work has slowly begun to be recognized by his nation and the wider polar research community. Although he did not reach the Pole, and the science he hoped for may not have been good because of his choice of chief scientist, if we are being fair, Amundsen, unlike Scott, did little in the way of scientific merit. did not get

Naomi Bonham, archives manager at the Scott Polar Research Institute, points out that it was only 10 years ago that her memoir, which detailed her expedition, was translated into English by Laura Dagnell and Hilary Shibata. She says: ‘The Western readership at that time was almost non-existent.’

Shirase was the first non-European to explore any part of Antarctica. He was one of the few humans to travel this far south of the globe, including his two rivals and the Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton.

No one had traveled this far along the east coast of Antarctica before. They had a fraction of their competitors’ budgets, a ship half the size of their competitors’ ships, and unlike them, it was their first voyage into polar weather. But the important thing is that none of his team was killed.

And although they were ridiculed for their ‘toy den’ bamboo sleds, the light weight of these sleds proved to be a blessing. When they returned home after a trip south, they covered 150 miles in an incredible three days, much faster than Amundsen who had trained dogs.

Headland says: ‘They turned out to be faster than wooden and metal sleds, although possibly not as strong over rough terrain.’

It took a long time, a long time, but Shirase is starting to get the recognition he deserves, moving from a funny footnote in the Antarctic records to now a recognized inventor.

Headland said: ‘Shirase was somewhat different but did not lack enthusiasm and, as far as was possible in Japan, he researched Antarctica before his expedition.’

‘In the end they succumbed to the conditions as many expeditions to the then completely unknown continent of Antarctica had.’

According to Headland: ‘They would have encountered glaciers and mountain ranges on their chosen route and might have had to abandon their attempt. But despite this, their reputation is recovering. He is considered a serious pioneer of Antarctica’s heroic era.’

Shirase would no doubt be delighted to know that Japan’s Antarctic research vessel is named after him and that the continent’s geographic features are named after him, including the east coast that he first explored. explored Perhaps, more fittingly, there is a statue and a museum in his hometown of Nakaho celebrating his life and his campaign.

Every year on January 28, the day Shirase reached his furthest point south, the museum holds Shirase’s Walk in the Snow, a tribute to the military lieutenant who became Japan’s first polar explorer. A man who is no longer just a footnote in polar history.