NIPR in number

1,April 2023

Syowa Station (Antarctic)
Established: January 1957
Location: 69°00’25’’S, 39°35’01’’E
Altitude: 28.8m
Minimum temperature record: -45.3℃ (September 4, 1982)
Maximum temperature record: +10.0℃ (January 21, 1977)
Annual mean temperature: -10.4℃
Annual average wind: 6.7m/s

Mizuho Station (Antarctic, closed)
Established: July 1970
Location: 70°41’58’’S, 44°16’52’’E
Altitude: 2,244m
Minimum temperature record: -61.9℃ (July 16, 1985)
Maximum temperature record: -2.7℃ (January 12, 1982)
Annual mean temperature: -32.3℃
Annual average wind: 11.0m/s

Asuka Station (Antarctic, closed)
Established: March 1985
Location: 71°31’29’’S, 24°07’50’’E
Altitude: 980.3m
Minimum temperature record: -48.7℃ (August)
Maximum temperature record: +0.5℃ (January 12, 1982)
Annual mean temperature: -18.3℃
Annual average wind: 12.6m/s

Dome Fuji Station (Antarctic)
Established: February 1995
Location: 77°19’01’’S, 39°42’12’’E
Altitude: 3,810m
Minimum temperature record: -79.7℃ (May 14, 1996)
Maximum temperature record: -18.6℃ (January)
Annual mean temperature: -54.3℃
Annual average wind: 5.8m/s
Deep ice core: 3055.22m, 720,000 years ago

Ny-Ålesund Station (Arctic)
Established: April 1991
Location: 78°55’47’’N, 11°51’51’’E
Altitude: 40m

Minimum temperature record: -42.2℃ (March 3, 1986)
Maximum temperature record: +18.7℃ (July 7, 2005)
Annual mean temperature: -6.3℃
Annual average wind: 3.3m/s
(Ny-Ålesund observation station, Norwegian Meteorological Institute)

Number of users: 573 person-day (FY2014)

Members of the first JARE (1956)

Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE)
Departure date of first expedition: November 8, 1956

Number of JARE expeditioners

Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (from JARE 1st to 66th)

Number of members (total) 4,100, Number of female members 220

First icebreaker
“Soya” PL-107 (Japan Coast Guard)
November 1956 – April 1962

Second icebreaker
“Fuji” AGB-5001 (JMSDF)
November 1965 – April 1983

Third icebreaker
“Shirase” AGB-5002 (JMSDF)
November 1983 – April 2008

Fourth icebreaker
New “Shirase” AGB-5003 (JMSDF)
November 2009 - now

Transportation amount to Syowa Station

Transportation amount on 66th Expedition (2024-25)
Total: 1037t (fuel 680t, others 393t)

Countries operating wintering observation in Antarctica (as of November 2024)
44 wintering stations from 20 countries

Antarctic Treaty
Effective: 1961
Signatories: 12 (including Japan)
Parties: 58 (as of January, 2025)

Council of Managers of National Antarctic Program (COMNAP)
Members: 32 countries (as of October, 2024)

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR)
Members: 46 countries (as of May, 2025)
Professor Takuji Nakamura, NIPR, assumed the position of Vice President in 2024 (serving until 2028)

International Arctic Science Committee (IASC)
Members: 25 countries (as of May, 2025)