Japanese Whaling Expedition (1910)

Dates

• Existence: 1910

Summary

Abstract:

Having been part of the Philippine Expedition (1907-1909) for its last leg, Roy Chapman Andrews found himself in Nagasaki, Japan in February 1910 at the expedition’s completion. In his memoir Under a Lucky Star (1945), Andrews describes walking through a market in Nagasaki as changing “the whole current of my life” (79). It was here that Andrews first encountered the extent of the Japanese whaling industry and made the decision to stay on in Japan to study and collect whale specimens for the American Museum of Natural History.

Andrews’ homebase was in the fishing village of Kii-Oshima, though he made several trips to other parts of Japan to study and photograph whale specimens. In March, Andrews went to Shikoku Island briefly, returning to Kii-Oshima at the end of march and remaining through April. In May, Andrews left Kii-Oshima to follow the whaling industry in Aikawa, where he stayed until the whaling station closed at the end of August. Most of the locations Andrews went to during the Japanese Whaling Expedition were in various parts of Honshu.

In early September, Andrews began his return trip to New York, stopping in Egypt and several European cities for personal interest and travel on his way back.

Chronology:

February 1910

Andrews disembarks the S.S. Albatross in Nagasaki. The next day, after visiting the market, he decides to stay in Japan to study whales and collect specimens for the American Museum of Natural History. Andrews stays in Shimonoseki, on the island of Honshu, until February 27 and then goes to the whaling station on the Island of Shikoku, south of Honshu.

March 1910

In the beginning of March, Andrews remains on the Island of Shikoku. However, due to a lack of specimens at this station, Andrews transfers to the fishing village of Kii-Oshima on Honshu, where the whaling industry was more active. At Kii-Oshima, Andrews collects a specimen of a blue whale, sulphur-bottom, sei, finback, humpback, two gray whales, two killer whale skeletons, and a dozen rare and unknown porpoises.

April 1910

At Kii-Oshima, Andrews collects a specimen of a blue whale, sulphur-bottom, sei, finback, humpback, two gray whales, two killer whale skeletons, and a dozen rare and unknown porpoises.

May-September 1910

After Oshima, Andrews travels to Aikawa, where the whaling company had its largest station. In Aikawa, Andrews collected 80 tons of specimens to be sent back to the American Museum of Natural History.

September 1910

Andrews begins his return trip to New York, stopping in Egypt and several European cities for personal interest and travel on his way back.

Citation:

Andrews, Roy Chapman. “8 page undated report on RCA’s Trip to Far East” Mammalogy Department Archives, Andrews, Roy Chapman; II Intra-Museum 5A Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 1910-1918, American Museum of Natural History. 1910.

Andrews, Roy Chapman. Under a Lucky Star. Blue Ribbon Books, 1945, Internet Archive. Accessed 2024.

Uni, Yoshikazu and Brownell, Robert. (2014). Whale research by Roy Chapman Andrews in Japan and Korea, and Retracing his Footsteps around Japan in 1909-1910ロイ・チャップマン・アンドリュ ースの日本と朝鮮での鯨類調査と1909‒1910年の日本周辺での行程. Japan Cetology. 33-61. 10.5181/cetology.0.24_33.

Places

• Japan (Associated Country) -- Date: 1910
  • Note: Expedition Site

Topics

• AMNH Expeditions

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