THE EVOLUTION OF JAPAN.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 37, 13 February 1911, Page 4

THE EVOLUTION OF JAPAN.

. Nothing more «ignißcanfc of the progress of Japan in the asai—illation Of western thought, ctrstomfi and Meals lias occurred since the -waf than the equipment of an . expedition to explore Antarctic seas, and, if possible, to wfefct from Nature the eecret of the Southern Pole, -which, so far, has defied the attacks of European explorers. And just as the Japanese determination to enter the field of research is _aihly interesting} for the evidence it affords oi the evolution of a people, BO the primitive and inadequate equipment is eloquent of the gulf that still separates Bast from West. On Saturday the twenty-sevett Japanese who comprise Lieutenant Shirase'a complete party left Wellington in continuation of their voyage to a point between King Edward Land and Mc—ui'do - Bay. Their little Vessel of 190 tons, the Kwainan, would dismay the most enterprising and reckless of -western explorers, while the equipment of the party is apparently on a par with the .unsuitability of their craft for the work that cannot ije escaped in. the ice packs' that fringe the great Antarctic Continent. Of dogs the party' has but a dozen, and these are to provide their sole means of traction during more than a year in the Antarctic. For the rest the men who comprise the'party of 11, who undertake the general researches,, must depend entirely ton their own physDtal Strength and stamina. At the outset they will face the winter on the shores of King Edward Sound, presumably without their vessel as a "bane, which willadd very materially to their hardships. Then when September comes round the party wui make the dash for the Polfe which ie the main incentive of moat of the expeditions that penetrate the frozen South. '"Lieutenant ShiraSe, when leaving Japan, spoke confidently of accomplishing the -esti—a ted 900 miles in 155 days, and successfully attaining his object. It would be a tremendous triumph if these hardy .sons of Nippon were to accomplish what so many adequately .and .expensively equipped European parties have so far failed in doing. The German expedition, which will leave later in the 'year to 1 , approach the investigation of Southern latitudes from the Weddell Sea, will cost £70,000, but no confident hopes are expressed of doing in the South what Peary did two yeatfc ago in the North. Captain Scott's expedition, now at work in Antarctica, is anxious to -attain the same object; but fully equipped as it is -with everything that is calculated to assist in an assault on the frozen fastnesses that protect the secret of the Pole, there is not the same feeling of the inevitablenesa of success. It is this personal confidence in the individual ability to achieve a set object that manifests itself so : strongly in : "the Japanese character, and which" constitute* the maininter—t "in this latest enterprise. Inadequately equipped, these 11 Japanese are buoyed up by a feeling of absolute confidence in their ability-to surmount, 'by reason of their personal courage and prowess ,the difficulties that will encompass them. This is the spirit that has won so rapidly for Japan a place in the (world's politics, that permitted of the prosecution of the straggle with Russia, and that may yet make the country a vastly more imposing factor in the international situation. In the present case of -the expedition promoted by Lieut., Shirase, while we cannot but admire 1 the personnel, we feel that mote than, courage and determination are. needed] for success, and that the'prize will fall,' as in the case of Peary in the North, to j long experience in such work, and an! equipment which in every way is the latest that science can suggest. I