Japan's 48th Antarctic expedition will leave Tokyo for their journey on Tuesday evening from Narita International Airport. The expedition, made up of 56 researchers and four media personnel, will first arrive at Fremantle port in Australia, where they will board the 11,600-ton icebreaker Shirase which left Tokyo in earlier November and is to reach their destination, Japan's Showa Base in Antarctica, in mid-December. According to the schedule of the expedition, which departs on the 50th anniversary of Japan's exploration of the Antarctica, researchers will monitor air particles in order to study the mechanism of global warming. The team plans to return home next spring.
