1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,199 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: show that pays tribute to people of the past by 4 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: telling their stories. Today, I'm Gabeluezier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: we're celebrating the intrepid life of the first woman to 6 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: ascend the world's highest mountain. The day was May sixteenth, 7 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:41,200 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first 8 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: woman to reach the peak of Mount Everest. Born in Miharu, Fukushima, Japan, 9 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty nine, Junko climbed her first mountain when 10 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: she was just ten years old. It was during a 11 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: school trip to Mount Nasu in the Nico National Park, 12 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: and she immediately fell in love with the non competitive 13 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: nature of mountain climbing, as well as the beautiful scenery 14 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:10,559 Speaker 1: it offered as a reward for hard work. Unfortunately, Junko's 15 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: family didn't have the money to support such an expensive hobby, 16 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: and she wasn't able to climb as much as she 17 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: would have liked during her teenage years. From nineteen fifty 18 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: eight to nineteen sixty two, Junko studied English and American 19 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: literature at the Shoa Women's University in Tokyo. Living in 20 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: a busy, crowded city for four years made her miss 21 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: the freedom of climbing more than ever, so after graduation, 22 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: she put her plans to become a teacher on hold 23 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: and joined several men's mountaineering clubs. Many of the other 24 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: members resented Junko's presence, as mountain climbing was a traditionally 25 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: male sport. Some of the men refused to climb alongside her, 26 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: and others accused her of only joining the club as 27 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: a way to find a husband. Undeterred by their disrespect, 28 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: Junko continued pursuing her passion, and throughout her twenties, she 29 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: managed to climb all the major mountains in Japan, including 30 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: Mount Fuji. Along the way, she also met and fell 31 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: in love with a fellow climber named Masanobu Tabayi. She 32 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: hadn't set out to find a husband through climbing, but 33 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: in the end, that's exactly what happened. The couple went 34 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: on to marry and have two children together, a daughter 35 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: named Noriko and a son named Shinya. Getting married didn't 36 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: improve Junko's standing in the male dominated climbing clubs. At 37 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: the time, Japanese society's expectations for married women were for 38 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,519 Speaker 1: them to stay home and raise children. They weren't supposed 39 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,679 Speaker 1: to work jobs, and they definitely weren't supposed to leave 40 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: the country to go climb mountains. Nonetheless, Junko did both 41 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: those things. She helped fund her expeditions by working as 42 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: an editor for the journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 43 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: and in nineteen sixty nine she founded the Joshi Tohen Club, 44 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: Japan's first mountaineering club exclusively for women. The club's slogan 45 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: was let's go on an overseas expedition by ourselves, and 46 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: one year later that's exactly what they did. Junko and 47 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: fourteen other club members traveled to Nepal to climb Anna 48 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: Purna three, the forty second highest mountain in the world. 49 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: They became the first female and first Japanese team to 50 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: summit the nearly twenty five thousand foot high peak, and 51 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: Junko and one other member, Heroko Hirikawa, were chosen to 52 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: make the final track to the mountaintop. Riding high on 53 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: that success, the club decided that Mount Everest should be 54 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: their next conquest. They applied for a climbing permit in 55 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one, but at the time the Nepalese government 56 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: was only allowing one or two Everest expeditions each season, 57 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: and that year's spots had already been phil It was 58 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: the same story for the next three years, but finally, 59 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy five, the Joshi Toen expedition was approved. 60 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: Even with a permit, the clubs still had to secure 61 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: funding for all their supplies and equipment, as well as 62 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: for the six Shirpa guides who would accompany them up 63 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: the mountain. Finding sponsors for such a treacherous climb was 64 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: a tall order for any team, but especially for one 65 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 1: made up of women. The timing came down to the wire, 66 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,840 Speaker 1: but in the end, the Yomi Yuri Shimbun newspaper and 67 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: the Nippon television station agreed to help fund the club's attempt. 68 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: That said, the sponsorship still fell short of the total 69 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: money needed, and the club members wound up having to 70 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: make up the difference with their own money, about one 71 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: and a half million yen each. In December of nineteen 72 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: seventy four, Junko bid farewell to her husband and two 73 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: year old daughter in Tokyo and set off to begin 74 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: a month's long training period. The team was made up 75 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: of fifteen women, most of whom worked for a living, 76 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:12,559 Speaker 1: and two of whom, including Junko, were mothers. They began 77 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: their ascent from base camp in early May, following the 78 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: same route pioneered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay 79 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: twenty two years earlier. Aside from a few bouts with 80 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: altitude sickness and bad weather, the climb went fairly smoothly 81 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: at first, but then in the early hours of May fourth, 82 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: disaster struck. Junko and several of her teammates were buried 83 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: beneath an avalanche while sleeping in their tents some twenty 84 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,359 Speaker 1: one thousand feet up the mountain. The scherpas and the 85 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: party managed to dig them out before frostbite set in, 86 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 1: but Junko had been knocked unconscious for several minutes, and 87 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: when she recovered she could barely walk. The incident would 88 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: have sent most teams straight back down the mountain, but 89 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: the Joshi Town Club decided to stick it out. After 90 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: resting for just two days, Junko and her teammates resumed 91 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:10,919 Speaker 1: their expedition. They had always planned to send two women 92 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 1: to the summit of Mount Everest, but because oxygen supplies 93 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: were running low, it turned out that only one woman 94 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: would be able to make the attempt. Junko was chosen 95 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: to complete the final leg of the climb on behalf 96 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: of the rest of the team, and on May sixteenth, 97 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, she and her sherpa guide Ang Sharing 98 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 1: successfully made it to the peak. She had made history 99 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 1: as the first woman to ever conquer Mount Everest, but 100 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: the fame that came with that achievement often made her uncomfortable. 101 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: Modest almost to a fault, Junko said that she'd like 102 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: to be remembered not as the first woman to reach 103 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: the peak, but simply as the thirty sixth person to 104 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: do so. Still, there was at least one thing Junko 105 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: enjoyed about her newfound notoriety. It allowed her to keep 106 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: clim She had her pick of corporate sponsors after Everest, 107 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: but she turned them all down, preferring to fund her 108 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: own expeditions with the money she made from public appearances 109 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: and from guiding mountain climbing tours. Over the next two decades, 110 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: the financially independent, Junko chipped away at another famous alpine challenge, 111 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: climbing the highest mountain on every continent, and in nineteen 112 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: ninety two she made history again when she became the 113 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: first woman to reach the summit of all seven of them. 114 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: Junko continued climbing throughout her life, but she also made 115 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: time for conservation work, advocating for the preservation of mountain 116 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: environments and leading clean up climbs in both Japan and 117 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: the Himalayas. Her passion for climbing came full circle in 118 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,559 Speaker 1: twenty twelve when she began organizing annual ascents of Mount 119 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: Fuji for high school students affected by the earthquake and 120 00:07:55,880 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: tsunami that had devastated Japan in twenty eleven. We kept 121 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: up that work even after being diagnosed with stomach cancer, 122 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: and in July of twenty sixteen, she led her final 123 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: ascent of Mount Fuji, inspiring a new generation of young climbers, 124 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: just as her teacher had done when she was a girl. 125 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: Junko Tabay passed away on October twentieth, twenty sixteen, at 126 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: the age of seventy seven. In the five decades since 127 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: she summited Everest nearly eight hundred other women have followed 128 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 1: in her footsteps. I'm Gabe blues Yay, and hopefully you 129 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you 130 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,560 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with the show, 131 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 132 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:51,679 Speaker 1: TDI HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 133 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: feel free to send them my way by writing to 134 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Kazbi Bias 135 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 1: for producing the show, show, and thanks to you for listening. 136 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 137 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: in History class.