Junko Tabei (田部井 淳子 Tabei Junko, born September 22, 1939)[1] is a Japanese mountain-climber, who became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 16, 1975.
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After obtaining a degree in English literature from Showa Women's University where she was a member of the mountain climbing club, Tabei formed the "Ladies Climbing Club: Japan (LCC)" in 1969. She has climbed Mt. Fuji as well as the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps, among others. [2] By 1972 Tabei was a recognized mountain climber in Japan.
The Yomiuri newspaper and Nihon Television sent an all-woman team to Nepal to take on the challenge of climbing Mt. Everest. Fifteen women out of hundreds of applicants, including Tabei, were selected for the expedition.
After a long training period, they began the expedition early in 1975 when they traveled to Katmandu. There they found nine local Sherpa people to guide them. They used the same route Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay took in 1953. In early May the women were camping at 6,300 meters when an avalanche struck their camp. The women, including Junko and the guides, were buried under the snow. Tabei lost consciousness for approximately six minutes until her Sherpa guide dug her out. Twelve days after the avalanche, Tabei became the first female to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
In 1992, Tabei was the first woman to complete the Seven Summits.
Tabei has a goal to climb the highest peak in every country in the world. She has slowed down her climbing, but continues to work on ecological concerns. Tabei is the director of Himalayan Adventure Trust of Japan, an organization working on a global level to preserve mountain environments.
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