Junko Tabei was a Japanese Mountaineer, Author, and a Teacher. In 1975 she became the first woman to reach the summit of the world’s highest peak Mount everest.
Tabei was born on 22 nd september, 1939 in Miharu near Fukushima Japan. She discovered her love for hiking at a very tender age on a school trip to a local mountain. Her passion to climb mountains played a crucial role in defying the odds, challenging the stereotypes and proving wrong to the chauvinist mindset that doubted the ability of women in any sphere.
Tabei did her graduation in English literature and Education, soon after her graduation she joined mountaineering clubs and kept sharpening her skills on peaks in Japan including the country’s own Mount Fuji.
The club she joined, The Joshi-Tohan club, decided to climb Mount Everest and applied for the permit in 1971. They waited for 4 years to receive a place in the formal climbing schedule. Tabei worked as an editor for the journal of Japan’s physical society and she also taught piano. The group of Mountaineers needed financial resources for the expeditions sp in order to save money, climbers started making their own equipment like gloves, pouches, sleeping bags and pants.
Tabei also got married to a fellow mountaineer Masanobu Tabei who she met during the excursion of Mount Tanigawa.
Mount Everest Expedition
Junko Tabei and the fellow mountaineers decided to ascend Mount Everest in the year 1971, the group was led by Tabei and the overall leadership was in the hands of Masanobu Tabei. The Mountaineers decided to follow the same route as taken by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had taken in 1953.
To climb Mount Everest the Mountaineers still needed funding so they turned towards the Japanese business community, they were told that the expedition was a dead end and the Mountain has always been a subject to storms and that it would race against time because of the monsoon that was approaching.
Taebi was still able to obtain the funding from the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper and Nippon Television.Amidst the negative feedback and fearful challenges the expedition found its way.On May 3rd 1975, at the retreat camp II, an extremely strong Avalanche hit the pack reading them to be covered in a thick layer of snow. When the Sherpas dug them out, Tabei had bruises all over her legs and the expedition felt like a dooming dream.
However After 3 days, Junko decided to continue with the expedition.
On May 10th 1975, Tabei and her sherpa Ang Tsering resumed their ascent. On May 16th 1975, Tabei became the first woman to ascend Mount Everest. In a Telegraph of Junko, it is read that rather than being known as the First Woman to climb Everest, I want to be recognised as the 36th person who climbed Mount Everest, because when she started her journey to Mount Everest, she did not know she was going to be the first one to do it.
Other achievements
In 1992 , she was the first woman to climb 7 summits, the highest peak on each continent.
She climbed Kilimanjaro in 1980 , Mount Aconcagua in 1987, Denali in 1988, Mount Elbrus in 1989, Mount Vinson in 1991, and Mount Puncak Jaya in 1992.
She also took part in 44 all female mountaineering expeditions in 2005.
Junko Tabei was diagnosed with Peritoneal Cancer but she continued to do so many of her mountaineering activities until she passed away on October 20, 2016.