is a Japanese permanent research station on East Ongul Island in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. Built in 1957, Syowa Station is named for the era in the Japanese calendar during which it was established, the Shōwa period.

Overview

Syowa Station serves as a research outpost for astronomy, meteorology, biology and earth sciences. It comprises over 60 separate buildings, large and small, including a 3-storey administration building, living quarters, power plant, sewage treatment facility, environmental science building, observatory, data processing facility, satellite building, ionospheric station, incinerator, earth science building, and radiosonde station. Also present are fuel tanks, water storage, solar panels, a heliport, water retention dam, and radio transmitter.

PANSY Incoherent Scatter Radar

Syowa station is home to the Program of the Antarctic Syowa Mesosphere–Stratosphere–Troposphere/Incoherent Scatter (PANSY) incoherent scatter radar, which took its first measurements in 2017.

Legacy

1957 Expedition

The station was founded by the inaugural Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition in 1957. In February 1958, the Japanese research vessel Sōya was scheduled to deploy the second team, but couldn't get near the station due to severe weather conditions. The first expedition was then rescued by a helicopter from Sōya, but they had to leave the sled dogs behind. In January 1959, the third team returned back and found that, of the 15 dogs that had been left by the first team at the base, two, Taro and Jiro, had survived.

Historic monument

A cairn and plaque at the station commemorate Shin Fukushima, a member of the 4th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, who died in October 1960 while carrying out his duties. The cairn, which contains some of his ashes, was erected on 11 January 1961 by his colleagues. It has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 2) following a proposal by Japan to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

In popular culture

• Syowa Station is the Antarctic destination of the protagonists of A Place Further than the Universe, a 2018 Japanese anime series.

• The monster Ghidorah is located on the base — called "Outpost 32" — in the 2019 film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

• Syowa Station is depicted in the 1983 film Antarctica.

• The establishment of Syowa Station is dramatized in Nankyoku Tairiku, a 2011 Japanese television drama.

Climate

The climate is classified as an Ice cap climate (Köppen: EF), since there are no months where the average temperature exceeds .

Works

• Antarctica (1983 film)

• A Place Further than the Universe

See also

• List of Antarctic research stations

• List of Antarctic field camps

• List of airports in Antarctica

• Asuka Station

• Dome Fuji Station

• Mizuho Station

References

Notes

External links

• Official website National Institute of Polar Research

• NIPR webpage on Syowa Station

• Syowa Base Now!! (Japanese only)

• OpenStreetMap

• COMNAP Antarctic Facilities

• COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map

• Showa Research Station Amateur Radio Station 8J1RL