Japan selects first woman to lead Antarctic research wintering team

Mitsumu Ejiri, assistant professor at Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research, has been appointed the first female leader of the wintering team of a Japanese Antarctic research expedition.
Ejiri, 51, will lead the wintering team of the 67th expedition and also serve as deputy head of the expedition. The wintering team is slated to leave for Antarctica in autumn next year and return to Japan in spring 2027.
The appointment was decided Monday at a general meeting of the integrated headquarters for the promotion of Japan’s Antarctic research.
A native of Kyoto, Ejiri specializes in upper atmospheric science. After graduating from Shizuoka University, she obtained a doctorate at Nagoya University.
She joined the National Institute of Polar Research in 2009 after working at the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Utah State University in the United States and Kyoto University’s Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere.
She was a member of the summer team of the 51st Antarctic research expedition and the wintering team of the 58th expedition.
“I feel this is a mission involving a very heavy responsibility. I will do my best with support from within our country,” Ejiri said after Monday’s general meeting.
Finally, Japan has reached an era in which Antarctic observation can be led by a chief regardless of gender even during the wintering period, she added.
Also at the meeting, Hokkaido University professor Shigeru Aoki, 58, was appointed leader of the 67th expedition.
Meanwhile, the 66th expedition, which will leave for Antarctica in December this year, will be led by University of Tokyo professor Naomi Harada, 57, the first woman to head a Japanese Antarctic research expedition.