Seventy years ago on November 8, 1956, the Soya departed Tokyo's Harumi pier carrying 53 members of the first Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition.
Planning The Historic Building Return
The structure slated for repatriation is the former main building, which also served as the expedition's dining hall and encompasses a floor area of 40 square meters. NIPR aims to dismantle the historic structure in 2028, bring it back to Japan in 2029, and rebuild it for permanent preservation on the institute's research grounds.
According to NIPR’s Antarctic Research Center Director, Isamu Imura described the upcoming effort as an initiative to ensure future generations can learn about the dawn of Japan’s polar scientific exploration.
Building For Antarctic Extremes
Hirayama participated directly in the initial design and preparation phases, working to meet strict engineering requirements. The station needed to withstand winds reaching 60 meters per second. Temperatures plunged to 60 degrees below zero Celsius, all while using components light enough to be transported entirely by human labor. After careful planning, the team selected prefabricated building methods.
The construction relied on interlocking panels weighing roughly 100 kilograms each, built by enclosing thermal insulation materials within Hinoki cypress wood and connecting them with hardware much like a matchbox assembly.
Workers painted the exterior walls a vivid orange color to ensure researchers caught in sudden blizzards could easily spot the shelter and avoid whiteout disorientation.
Internal worries ran high during the first stormy night inside the newly completed shelters, but the structures held firm without a single issue.
Together with one tent-type structure, four buildings were assembled in about two weeks.
Weathering The Polar Winters
While severe weather prevented the second team from reaching the shore, forcing them to leave their Sakhalin huskies behind, Hirayama joined the second and third expeditions. Returning the following year revealed that the prefabricated building had survived the winter intact, found alongside surviving dogs Taro and Jiro.
The techniques developed for these polar shelters later crossed over into commercial construction, directly influencing the development of high-insulation residential housing throughout Japan.
Out of the original four structures erected during the first expedition, the former main building is the sole surviving example. While modern upgrades to the station now include large steel-framed facilities, the original wooden module remains a defining monument to early polar engineering.
How will the institute transport the 40-square-meter wooden structure back to Japan in 2029 without damaging the original Hinoki cypress panels?