During 1997 to 1998, near-surface currents in the western North Pacific subtropical gyre have been measured repeatedly by an ADCP mounted on the hull of the volunteer observing ship (VOS) operated mainly between Japan and Australia. The Kuroshio Current, the Kuroshio Recirculation and the North Equatorial Current are clearly identified as two-year mean currents in the latitude belt 10--34.5 ¿N. Current variability was dominated by baroclinic Rossby waves or mesoscale eddies over the 10--30 ¿N belt except in the latitude belt 13--17 ¿N where the north-to-south shifts of the North Equatorial Current stream axis may dominate current variability. The energy of the mesoscale variability was concentrated to form large peaks around 18.5 ¿N and 23 ¿N. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union