The role of music, sound, and cultural activity in the lives of the well-known Anglo-European expeditions of the “Heroic Era” of Antarctic exploration (ca. 1895–1922) has been explored to a limited extent. This article probes the experiences of the members of the first Japanese Antarctic Expedition (1910–12), particularly in relation to their well-being as reported by expedition member Keiichi Tada in his 1912 Nankyoku Tanken Nikki (Antarctic expedition diary). Through its etic diary approach and discussion of the everydayness and communal nature of music, as well as the emotions associated with music and poetry, this paper argues that music and poetry were integral to the expeditioners’ well-being on their Antarctic journey. While culturally different to the Anglo-European expeditions of that time, the role of music, and culture more broadly, is remarkably similar. The Japanese expedition seems to have been more musical than many of its Western counterparts, although whether this was a consequence of the interests of one of its senior members or represented Japanese society more broadly is difficult to determine.
Duncan et al. (Thu,) studied this question.