Showa Station: Syowa station 2

The landscape around Showa Station is a wind-exposed Antarctic island shore, where seasonal sea ice and the waters of Lützow-Holm Bay have shaped both the station’s compact layout and its scientific work. Located on East Ongul Island in Queen Maud Land, this Japanese research base occupies a demanding coastal setting of exposed rock, ice and polar sea. Japan established Showa Station in 1957, and it remains a focal point of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, supporting long-term studies of weather, the upper atmosphere and the polar environment. Its work takes place under the Antarctic Treaty system, which places science and international cooperation at the centre of activity on the continent. Explore nearby webcam locations that provide complementary perspectives on Queen Maud Land and the Antarctic coast.

Among Earth’s polar regions, Antarctica stands out for being the coldest, driest and windiest continent. The vast Antarctic ice sheet holds most of the planet’s freshwater ice, while the Transantarctic Mountains divide much of the continent between East and West Antarctica. Along the Ross Sea, sea ice and open water support colonies of penguins, seals and seabirds during the brief austral summer. Antarctica has no permanent population, but international research stations operate under the Antarctic Treaty system, founded on the 1959 treaty that set the continent aside for peaceful scientific cooperation. Historic expedition huts near Ross Island recall the early polar journeys of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. Find related webcams in the surrounding area to build a fuller picture of Antarctica.