Penguin Manju Go

The ***Penguin Manju Go*** (ペンギン饅頭号) is the icebreaker ship that takes the main characters of *A Place Further Than the Universe* to Antarctica. It appears prominently in the background in promotional content. It is based on the real-world *Shirase* (AGB-5003).

## History

Four years before the events of the first episode, the *Shirase* (AGB-5002) and Showa Station were sold by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to private interests. The company to bid successfully for both was the Antarctic Challenge Foundation, a charity jointly founded by Gin Tōdō, Takako Kobuchizawa and Kanae Maekawa to promote national interest in polar research. A year later, the first Japanese civilian expedition funded by the Antarctic Challenge Foundation and its sponsors departed for Antarctica during the southern winter. However, it returned with one member missing. As a result, sponsors withdrew from the Antarctic Challenge Foundation due to safety concerns, and more people voiced objections to future civilian expeditions.

By November of the timeline of the story (Episode 5), the ship had been cleared for another expedition. It was made over as the *Penguin Manju Go*. It departed on November 14 with the belongings of the expeditioners, and on November 28, made a stopover at Fremantle, Western Australia to pick up the expeditioners that had flown from Japan, as well as refill its supplies. On December 3, it departed Fremantle for Antarctica, arriving around the middle of the month.

On February 22, the *Penguin Manju Go* departed Antarctica for Sydney, carrying the high-school girls and (presumably) Captain Mukai due to the rest of the expeditioners staying for the Antarctic winter.

## Features

* A landing pad for the Antarctic Challenge Foundation's helicopter, located near the stern
* The girls' room is numbered 130
* A snowcat stored on the deck

## In real life

In real-life, Japanese icebreaker *Shirase* (AGB-5003), officially called an "Antarctic observation ship", was designed and built specifically to make annual trips to Antarctica. Launched in 2008, and commissioned in 2009 to the Maritime Self-Defense Force, it departed Japan on November 11, 2022 for another expedition there.

The predecessor ship *Shirase* (AGB-5002) was decommissioned on 30 July 2008, and there were plans for the Japanese government to scrap the icebreaker. However, due to the declining price of scrap iron, the Japanese government welcomed private bids for it. They officially sold AGB-5002 to Weathernews Inc. (WNI), a company that planned to exhibit the icebreaker, as well as use it to monitor the polar circles and observe weather.

In 2013, the AGB-5002 icebreaker was renamed *SHIRASE,* in all caps with Latin letters, to distinguish it from the current AGB-5003 which is the in-service ship which has its name written in hiragana (しらせ). It opens several times a year for tours in conjunction with the nearby Sapporo Beer Chiba Marine House. In 2018 they held a special *A Place Further Than the Universe* fan event. On July 8, 2023, it will open for self-guided tours at its new location at the south quay of the Keiyo Food Complex, Chiba.

## References

1. ↑  *Japanese icebreaker Shirase (AGB-5003)*
2. ↑ *Japan 2 Earth* - Research Vessel Departs for Antarctica with 'Gachapin' Mascot to Join by Nobuo Serizawa - 2022-11-14
3. ↑ *SHIRASE 5002* - チャレンジングSHIRASE2018第1回 with 「宇宙よりも遠い場所」 活動リポート 2018年4月22日（日） (in Japanese)
4. ↑ *The Asahi Shimbun* - Refurbished icebreaker opens to self-guided tours on July 8 By SATOKO UEHARA/ Staff Writer - July 5, 2023 at 07:00 JST

## External links

Other info
* *Japanese icebreaker Shirase (AGB-5003)*
	+ *しらせ (砕氷艦・2代)*
* *Japanese icebreaker Shirase (AGB-5002)*
	+ *しらせ (砕氷艦・初代)*

News
* *The Asahi Shimbun* - Refurbished icebreaker opens to self-guided tours on July 8 By SATOKO UEHARA/ Staff Writer - July 5, 2023 at 07:00 JST
* *Fuji TV*: Fuji TV Antarctic Expedition website (in Japanese)