Junko Tabei, the first woman to climb Everest, dies aged 77
The first woman to climb Qomolangma, known in the West as Mount Everest, didn’t stop there.
Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei, who died on Thursday at 77, devoted her adult life to scaling peaks, climbing the tallest mountains in more than 70 countries.
Her philosophy was to live life to the fullest. “I want to climb even more mountains,’’ she said in a 1991 interview with The Associated Press, 16 years after conquering Everest. “To think, ‘ It was great,’ and then die.’’
To do so required defying stereotypes, with the help of a supportive husband, in a country that thought a woman’s place was in the home. She founded the Ladies Climbing Club in 1969 with the slogan “Let’s go on an overseas expedition by ourselves,’’ and reached the summit of Everest on May 16, 1975, as the leader of the climbing party of an allfemale Japanese team.
“Most Japanese men of my generation would expect the woman to stay at home and clean house,’’ the mother of two said in the 1991 interview.
In 1992, she became the first woman to complete the “Seven Summits”, reaching the highest peaks of the seven continents.
Tabei died of cancer at a hospital outside of Tokyo, Japanese media reported on Saturday.
She was born in 1939 in Miharu, a hilly farming town in Fukushima prefecture about 230 kilometers north of Tokyo. Her first summit was nearby Mount Nasu with her teacher in the fourth grade.
Later in life, she became concerned about the degradation of Everest, completing master’s studies in 2000 at Kyushu University in southern Japan on the garbage problem as the famous mountain was opened to more climbers.
“Everest has become too crowded. It needs a rest now,’’ she said at a 2003 parade in Nepal to mark the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of the peak by Sir Edmund Hillary.
She kept climbing even after being diagnosed with cancer four years ago, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said. Her goal was to climb the tallest mountain in all of the more than 190 countries of the world. She fell short, but ticked off four more as recently as 2015, according to her website, in Niger, Luxembourg, Belgium and Oman.
Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei climbed the tallest mountains in more than 70 countries. In 1992, she became the first woman to complete the “Seven Summits”, reaching the highest peaks of the seven continents.
who climbed Mount Everest in 1975, receives a gift during ceremonies in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2003. Tabei devoted her adult life to scaling peaks, climbing the tallest mountains in more than 70 countries.
The academy said it has failed to reach the tightlipped laureate since he became the first musician in the Nobel’s 115-year history to win the prize in literature. The award was mentioned on Dylan’s official Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Dylan spokesman Larry Jenkins did not respond to an email on Saturday seeking comment.
The literature prize and five other Nobel Prizes will be officially conferred in Stockholm on Dec 10, the anniversary of award founder Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.
There is no indication as to whether Dylan will attend.
Literature laureates have skipped the ceremony before. In 2004, Austrian playwright and novelist Elfriede Jelinek stayed home, citing a social phobia.
Harold Pinter and Alice Munro missed the ceremony for health reasons in 2005 and 2013, respectively.
Only two people have declined a Nobel Prize in literature. Boris Pasternak did so under pressure from Soviet authorities in 1958 and Jean-Paul Sartre, who declined all official honors, turned it down in 1964.
Although Dylan has not commented publicly on winning the Nobel, privacy and the price of fame have been themes in his music.
It’s easy to read a response to Wastberg’s remarks in the 1981 song, The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar.
“Try to be pure at heart, they arrest you for robbery,” part of the lyrics say. “Mistake your shyness for aloofness, your silence for snobbery.”
Each of this year’s Nobel Prizes is worth 8 million Swedish kronor, or about $930,000.