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We know your first question already: “Who?” And honestly, it’s a fair question. Lt. Nobu Shirase is a relatively unknown person in history. He doesn’t feature on lists of famed explorers. It’s usually only the die-hard polar exploration experts and some Japanese fans that know about him. But, take a look at Lt. Nobu Shirase’s achievements.

Did he go somewhere no one had been before? No.

Did he make great strides in scientific research and polar discovery? Also no.

Did he discover anything of note? Not really, but that’s also not the point.

The point is that he tried. He went out into the unknown and explored the hell out of it. With only dogged determination and a dream, his single expedition went from problem to problem. His timing was terrible his whole life. At the end of it all, there was only minor success. And yet, for giving it a go when no one thought he could, or should, he stood shoulder to shoulder with Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen. Lt. Nobu Shirase explored and in doing so wrote his name, very faintly, in the history books.

Familiar beginnings

The childhood of Shirase isn’t too dissimilar from that of Roald Amundsen, looking simply at the broad strokes. It’s one of a child, obsessed with exploration, raised by a family with deep professional tradition. For Amundsen, it was a family of seafarers and a fascination with Franklin’s disastrous Northwest Passage expedition. For Shirase, it was a family of monks and a fascination, also, with Franklin’s disastrous Northwest Passage expedition. It wasn’t as easy though for Shirase. The first big issue was his place of birth. Whilst for others the title of explorer brought fame and prestige, in Japan in the late 1800’s the concept didn’t really exist. In fact, when Shirase was born, the entire population was forbidden from leaving Japan at all.

The penalty for doing so? Death.

Although the Meiji revolution changed Japan and slow modernisation was occurring, it wasn’t a common concept to head out into the unknown to explore. Despite this, and with adventure in his heart, Shirase’s mind was set early. The quiet simplicity of a monk’s life was not for him. Instead, he dedicated his life to exploration. He would start with the North Pole. So, in preparation, he joined the army. It was to be a rough beginning.

The Frozen North

To say he was dedicated is an understatement.

Discussing his dreams of Arctic exploration with a senior officer, it was suggested that he ask for a posting to the Kuril Islands. This frozen and barren archipelago, a territory long disputed with Russia, was avoided by almost everyone. True to form, Shirase immediately applied and was sent to the frozen north. From there he joined an expedition to the far northern islands, even later into the Alaskan Arctic on a covert mission. This was a true cold-weather experience. In preparation for his future adventures, he avoided warm meals and drinks. He even shunned the warmth of the fire, undergoing hard exercise instead to train his body to get used to the bitter cold.

However, the poorly organised expedition didn’t go well at all. Ten soldiers died in the first winter alone. When the relief boat finally came, the expedition leader immediately left to fight in the First Sino-Japanese war. Shirase instead chose to stay with the rest, enduring a second brutal winter. This winter was again filled with cold, starvation and scurvy and in the end, Shirase was one of only two officers to survive it. Despite his bitterness at the disorganised situation and danger the army had put them in, he chose to stay enlisted when they were relieved. In doing so, he could finally prepare for his own expedition. But, his plans to reach the North Pole were again put on hold as war broke out with Russia.

Change of plans

When the war was finally over, Shirase began to make plans for his North Pole attempt. However, like Amundsen, his plans were forced to change. News broke out that both Frederick Cook and Robert Peary had each claimed, independently, to have reached the North Pole. With that dream crushed, Shirase switched goals to instead reach the unclaimed South Pole. The problem is he was far behind the frontrunners. As he switched destinations, both Scott and Amundsen were already underway with their own South Pole expeditions.

He also had even larger, more pressing issues. The Japanese government, only 20 years having passed since the borders first reopened, was not at all remotely interested in financing his trip. Neither were the upper class of Japanese society. To be honest, neither were the Japanese people in general. Exploration just wasn’t a thing in Japan. Why would they donate to support this lunatic? As a result, he received only small donations and it all looked finished before it started.

With all his dreams fading, he finally got the help he needed. It came from the samurai Count, and former prime minister, Count Okuma. Okuma immediately set up a fund for the Shirase Japanese Antarctic Expedition and with his contributions and connections helping to get more, Shirase finally raised the absolute bare minimum. Okuma also helped to purchase him a fishing boat which Shirase converted as best he could in preparation for the Antarctic conditions. It wasn’t much of a ship to look at and was tiny, about a half the size of Amundsen’s Fram and only a third in size of the Terra Nova that Scott used. It also had a tiny 18 horsepower engine compared to the 140 and 180 horsepower engines of the Fram and Terra Nova respectively.

Shirase didn’t care. His dream was finally underway. He christened it the Kainan Maru, or ‘Southern Pioneer’, and immediately set off to Antarctica.

False starts and espionage

All of this preparation and rushed planning meant Shirase’s season was already late. He arrived in the Antarctic in March, well behind both Scott and Amundsen. He had planned to overwinter there as they did but his late arrival meant the seasons had already begun to change. After multiple attempts to get close to land, they only narrowly avoided being trapped and were forced to abandon their plans. Chased out by the ice, they regretfully turned and headed towards Sydney, arriving in Sydney Harbour on the 1st of May. With both Scott and Amundsen already in the Antarctic and Shirase instead thousands of miles away, his dream of being the first to reach the South Pole was now out of reach.

It must have been devastating. All these years spent planning and preparing, only to see yourself being a few weeks too late to give it a go. And this, his second dream to be taken away from him. Despite this, they decided to return to the Antarctic. This, however, was at least six months away. Using their prefabricated huts they made camp in Parsley Bay, then Double Bay, in Sydney Harbour for the long wait. However, unlike the warm reception given to Shackleton and Scott on their visits to Australia, these intrepid Japanese explorers were treated with suspicion and derision immediately. The locals laughed at the Kainan Maru and, to be honest, the entire expedition.

A similar thing had happened earlier on their first trip to Antarctica when the crew had stopped in Wellington to top up their provisions. Rather than celebrate these explorers like they had others, the local newspapers laughed at them. They saved particular attention and scorn to their ‘exotic’ diets of plums, rice and squid, rather than the typical Western explorer fare of high-fat foods like pemmican. Western men were ‘real explorers’, not these strange men from the east.

Unlike Wellington’s casual racism, Sydney provided the team with some real danger. Suspicion was rife and newspapers devoted column inches to theories their entire expedition was a secret spying operation or perhaps preparation for invasion. Their very presence created anger and disdain from locals and they struggled to find supplies. They were expecting a hostile environment in Antarctica but didn’t anticipate finding it in Australia.

An Australian ally and a second attempt

Professor Tennatt David was no stranger to the Antarctic. He was celebrated in Australia, having accompanied Sir Douglas Mawson to the South Magnetic Pole during Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition. Seeing the situation Shirase and the crew found themselves in, David stepped in. “To raise an outcry against them on the purely imaginary grounds that they are spies is worse than inhospitable, it is sheer nervous stupidity,” he exclaimed. With his approval and confirmation of their bona fides defusing tensions somewhat, he then took it upon himself to assist Shirase in resupplying and preparing for the season to come. Let’s face it, if anyone knew what to expect, it was him.

Needing more supplies, Shirase sent the expedition secretary and the Kainan-Maru captain back to Japan to raise more funds and get more dogs, with most having died of ringworm on their first trip south. They also sent back the bad news to their supporters: The South Pole dream was now impossible. With that sobering news in mind, Count Okuma and his supporters agreed to support a new ‘Dash Patrol’ and the first landing on King Edwards VII Land, an as-yet unexplored island. Okuma sent Shirase a telegram.

“Go forth. Set sail anew,” it said. “Though you may perish in the attempt, do not return until you have achieved your aims.”

With additional funding secured, Shirase could complete his preparations for his return south. With local support gradually turning, the community began to respect and appreciate their Japanese guests. Local children came through to visit, rewarded with Japanese sweets. As a local alderman exclaimed, “If all the citizens of Vaucluse behaved themselves as well, and obeyed sanitary instructions as carefully as these men had done, the suburb would be a very beautiful one.” **On the eve of his departure, Tennatt David and his supporters visited Shirase on this Kainan Maru to wish them well. Deeply thankful for his endless support, Shirase presented him with a handwritten letter of thanks. To fully show his appreciation for his friendship, Shirase gifted him with his most treasured item and constant companion: a samurai sword made in the 1640s.

Shirase in Antarctica, finally

With new goals in mind and renewed purpose, Shirase and the Kainan Maru steamed south towards Antarctica. Arriving at the Great Ice Barrier, they began to explore around its edge, heading towards the Bay of Whales. To their surprise, in the distance, they saw a ship, anchored in the bay. It was the Fram, Amundsen’s ship, with Amundsen’s crew waiting patiently for him to return from his Pole attempt. Whilst Shirase unloaded supplies for his Dash Patrol, the Kainan Maru captain and the second mate were sent over to visit. But, with the Japanese party not speaking Norwegian and the Norwegians not speaking Japanese, the conversation was short. What a strange time it must have been for all.

After a few days of cutting a path up the Ross Ice Shelf, the expedition party divided. Shirase and a team of four set off on their Dash Patrol, the aim to head as far south as quickly as possible. The rest of the crew headed off to King Edward VII Land to claim the first landing there. Shirase’s team also included two Ainu men from far north Japan who, like the Inuit, were known for their dog-sledding skills. Travelling light, through major blizzards and with temperatures below minus 25 degrees Celsius, they exhausted their supplies only eight days later. However, in only eight days, they had astonishingly travelled almost 250km, reaching 80 degrees 5 minutes south. Not only was this only the fourth expedition ever to go this far south but this pace was far beyond that of any other explorer. Others, like Scott and Shackleton, struggled to cover 15km a day. But, with no supplies left, they knew they had reached their end. They raised the Japanese flag, set a copper box with the names of expedition supporters in the snow and cheered for their emperor. With that done, they turned and set for home.

The return journey to the ship took only three days.

Meanwhile, whilst Shirase was speeding south the rest of the team made a landing on King Edward VII land. Whether Amundsen’s crew beat them to it is still hotly debated. However, this was still an achievement that had eluded other famed explorers. Clamouring up the sea ice, they took some rocks and explored a little of the island before returning to the ship. In doing so, the Kainan Maru had also gone further east along the coast than any ship before them.

The job done, and dream fulfilled, Shirase set sail for Japan.

Modest endings

Shirase arrived home to great public celebration in Tokyo. This didn’t last long. Six weeks after his return, Emperor Meiji died. With this, the public interest in Shirase and the exploration disappeared. Virtually unknown outside an indifferent Japan and left with mountains of debt, he dedicated his life to paying it all off. The Kainan Maru was sold back to its former owners where it resumed life as a fishing boat. Shirase gave lecture tours to whoever would listen. He started a moderately successful fur farm in the Kuril islands and when that ended, returned to being a farmer. He and his wife lived simple, impoverished lives.

Only occasionally would his past resurface, for example once in 1927 when he was invited to meet Amundsen who was visiting Japan. With Amundsen away at the South Pole when Shirase encountered the Fram, the two hadn’t met. In 1933 the first English language account of his expedition was published. It was in only 1935, a full 23 years after he left Antarctica, that his debts were finally repaid and he was free from financial burden. In bad timing typical of Shirase, Japanese imperialism was on the rise and World War II broke out only a few years later.

Shirase died in poverty in 1946 at the age of 85, living in a rented room above a fish shop. There is very little recognition of his achievements. There is a Japanese polar research vessel Shirase, commissioned in 2009, but due to rules about naming conventions it is actually named after the Shirase glacier, which is in turn named after him.

It’s true the achievements, as per the record books, are few. But this was a man who dedicated his life to a dream. People laughed at him his entire life, both at home and overseas. He had terrible timing. He had both a budget and a ship tiny in scale compared to other expeditions. And yet, despite all of this, he was the fourth man in history to reach that far south. His expedition explored a new island. He didn’t give up on his dream. Despite his limitations, he explored new areas and discovered new ground, both literally and for future Asian explorers.

Ultimately, to be an explorer, you don’t have to do it first. You just have to do it.

And by god, Shirase did it.