Junko Tabei

Junko Tabei (1939 to 2016) was a Japanese mountaineer, author and teacher, born Junko Ishibashi in Miharu, Fukushima, the fifth daughter of seven children. She began climbing at ten on a school trip to Mount Nasu, studied English and American literature at Showa Women's University, and then joined men's climbing clubs, where some welcomed her and others questioned why a woman climbed. She became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and the first woman to complete the Seven Summits, climbing the highest peak on every continent. Beyond climbing she wrote seven books, organised projects to clear rubbish left on Everest, and led annual climbs of Mount Fuji for young people affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Asteroid 6897 Tabei and Tabei Montes on Pluto are named for her.