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[SHIRASE, Nobu (1861–1946)]. –– TANIGUCHI, Zenya and Yoshimasa KIMURA. Shirase Chui Tankenki [English translation: Account of Shirase’s Expedition to the South Pole]. Tokyo: Daichi–sha, 1942.
8vo. (Occasional spotting to text). 2 full–page maps, 4 full–page black and white illustrations after photographs. Original pictorial wrappers over stiff paper boards (some rubbing or light chipping along extreme edges, spotting to covers).
SECOND EDITION or the “elusive WWII wartime publication of Shirase’s biography” (Ross). Originally published in 1940 in manuscript form and limited to only 15 copies, this edition published two years later with the same text but additional images and some changes to maps. This is one of only two accounts of Japan’s first scientific venture outside of Asian waters. Zenya Taniguchi and Yoshimasa Kimura (1913–1998) first became acquainted with Shirase when they were students at Takushoku University. After graduating in 1933, the trio established the Nippon Polar Research Institute with Shirase being named the institute’s first president. Kamura spent two seasons during 1910–1912 as captain of the Kainan–Maru, sailing in the Ross Sea area, exploring off the coast of Victoria Land and Edward VII Peninsula. Ross 2.4.2 (“Scarce”); Taurus 76 (“special wartime reprint”).