National Institute of Polar Research (Japan)


National Institute of Polar Research, NIPR is the Japanese research institute for Antarctica. The agency manages several research bases on the continent.

Research centers

The NIPR has several research centers on Antarctica topics. Among others there are meteorological, geological, glacier motion, life science, ice dynamics, etc.
In 1969, the NIPR started collecting meteorites. Their meteorite collection contains almost 17,000 specimens of meteorites — one of the world's largest meteorite collections. The Antarctic meteorite research in the United States is guided by ANSMET.

Antarctic stations

The NIPR Antarctic Meteorite Research Center loans a set of 30 thin sections of various meteorite types for use in education. The Institute prepared 20 sets of this collection. They were used in several European countries as well, including Hungary, Romania, Denmark, and Belgium. The set includes lunar and Martian meteorites.

Asteroid

Asteroid 7773 Kyokuchiken was named in honor of National Institute of Polar Research. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 25 September 2018.