26 Facts About Junko Tabei

Junko Tabei was a Japanese mountaineer, author, and teacher.

Junko Tabei was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and ascend the Seven Summits, climbing the highest peak on every continent.

Junko Tabei Ishibashi was born on 22 September 1939 in Miharu, Fukushima, the fifth daughter of seven children.

Junko Tabei was considered a frail child, but nevertheless she began mountain climbing at the age of ten, going on a class climbing trip to Mount Nasu.

Junko Tabei enjoyed the non-competitive nature of the sport and the striking natural landscapes that came into view upon reaching the top of the mountain.

Junko Tabei initially planned on a career as a teacher.

In 1969, Junko Tabei established the Joshi-Tohan Club for women only.

Junko Tabei later stated that she founded the club as a result of how she was treated by male mountaineers of the time; some men, for example, refused to climb with her, while others thought she was only interested in climbing as a way to find a husband.

Junko Tabei helped fund her climbing activities by working as an editor for the Journal of the Physical Society of Japan.

From her experience in the Annapurna III ascent, Junko Tabei realized that she and the other Japanese women had sometimes struggled to reconcile traditional Japanese values of quiet strength with the more immediate practical needs of mountaineering.

Junko Tabei helped to find sponsors for the expedition, although she was frequently told that the women "should be raising children instead".

Junko Tabei was able to obtain last-minute funding from the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper and Nippon Television, but each group member still needed to pay 1.5 million yen.

Junko Tabei taught piano lessons to help raise the necessary funds.

Junko Tabei crawled along it sideways, later describing it as the most tense experience she had ever had.

Twelve days after the avalanche, on 16 May 1975, with her sherpa guide Ang Tsering, Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Everest.

Junko Tabei was showered with attention as a result of her achievement.

Junko Tabei received messages from the King of Nepal and the Japanese government, a television miniseries was made about the Everest expedition, and Tabei made personal appearances across Japan.

Junko Tabei continued her mountaineering pursuits, eventually climbing the highest mountain on each continent: Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Denali, Elbrus, Mount Vinson, and Puncak Jaya.

Junko Tabei had a personal goal to climb the highest mountain in every country in the world, and by the end of her lifetime she had completed at least 70 of these mountains.

Junko Tabei never accepted corporate sponsorship after Mount Everest, preferring to remain financially independent.

Junko Tabei saved money to fund her expeditions by making paid public appearances, guiding mountain-climbing tours, and tutoring local children in music and English.

Junko Tabei was the director of the Himalayan Adventure Trust of Japan, an organization working at a global level to preserve mountain environments.

Junko Tabei led and participated in "clean-up" climbs in Japan and the Himalayas alongside her husband and children.

Between 1996 and 2008, Junko Tabei wrote and published seven books.

Junko Tabei was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2012, but continued with many of her mountaineering activities.

Junko Tabei died in a hospital in Kawagoe on 20 October 2016.