Junko Tabei

Junko Tabei (田部井 淳子, born September 22, 1939 in Miharu – died October 20, 2016 in Kawagoe) was a Japanese mountaineer. She was the first woman to summit Everest on May 16, 1975. Junko was born in 1939 in Fukushima prefecture, one of seven children. Her passion for the mountains began after an excursion to the summit of Mount Nasu with her teacher when she was 10 years old. This experience left a deep mark on the young girl. After completing her studies in English and American Literature at Showa Women's University (an establishment which offered a mountaineering club which she had joined duri…