Who was Junko Tabei?

Welcome back to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com with your hosts, Mira and Finn! Today, we are climbing to the very top of the world to meet an amazing adventurer: Junko Tabei! Junko was a Japanese mountaineer who stood just 4 foot 9 inches tall. Growing up, people told her that climbing mountains wasn't for girls. Did she listen? No way! She was so determined that she started the Ladies Climbing Club of Japan! In 1975, Junko led an incredible all-women expedition up Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth. But disaster struck! An enormous avalanche buried her at 6,300 meters high, knocking her out cold! But Junko didn't give up. She bravely dug herself out of the freezing snow and kept climbing. Just 12 days later, she made history as the very first woman to ever stand on top of the world! She didn't stop there, either. Junko went on to climb the highest peak on every single continent! Join us as we explore the thrilling life of this tiny but mighty hero who proved that anyone can reach the top!

Transcript

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Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira! And I'm Finn. Before we start, a huge shout out to Zoe, who is five years old and listening all the way from County Kildare, Ireland. Whoa, hi Zoe! Ireland is so far away! Zoe asked us to tell this amazing story. And since it's May right now, it's the perfect time to celebrate her. It's a fantastic companion to our Mount Everest episode. Wait, Everest? Are we talking about climbing the biggest mountain in the world? Even better. We are talking about a woman who weighed just 92 pounds and was only four feet nine inches tall. Hey, that's only a little taller than me! Exactly! And picture this: she's 20,700 feet up Mount Everest, asleep in her tent, when suddenly an avalanche hits. Oh no! A giant wave of snow! Yep, she was buried under thousands of pounds of freezing snow, knocked totally unconscious. Did she survive? Did she have to go home? She didn't just survive, Finn. Her guides dug her out, she kept climbing, and twelve days later she stood on top of the world. No way! Who was this superhero? Her name was Junko Tobei, and today we're sharing her incredible story. Junko Ishibashi was born on September 22nd, 1939, in Miharu, a small town in Fukushima, Japan. Was she always a super strong climber? Actually, no. She was the fifth of seven children, and everyone thought she was a really frail and weak kid. She even had weak lungs. Frail? But she climbed Everest? I know! But when she was ten years old, her teacher took her fourth grade class on a trip to a nearby volcano called Mount Nasu. A volcano? That sounds awesome! It was! The peak was over 6,200 feet high, filled with rocky volcanic landscapes. She loved that it wasn't a competition. You just walked at your own pace. So she just started climbing mountains all the time? She wanted to, but her family didn't have much money, and climbing gear was super expensive, so she had to wait until she was older. Aw, that's a bummer. She grew up, went to college to study English literature, and eventually joined some men's climbing clubs after graduating. Why men's clubs? Because in Japan in the 1960s, mountain climbing was seen as a men's sport. There weren't any clubs just for women. That's not fair at all. What did the men say? Some were nice, but many refused to climb with her. They even told her she was only there to find a husband. Are you kidding? She just wanted to climb. Exactly! So in 1969, Junko decided she had enough. She founded the Ladies Climbing Club of Japan. Yeah, take that, grumpy guys. Their club slogan was amazing. It was, let's go on an overseas expedition by ourselves. Okay, so she has her own club. When do they tackle Mount Everest? They set their sights on Everest after a successful climb in Nepal in 1970. The club created a 15-woman team called the Japanese Women's Everest Expedition. 15 women? Did they just pack their bags and go? No, it took four whole years of planning. They applied for a permit in 1971. First, they had to get money. They asked businesses for sponsorships. Did they get the money? Barely. Most businesses told them no. Some executives even told them they should be at home raising children instead of climbing mountains. Why was everyone so mean back then? It didn't stop them. To save money, Junko and her team actually made their own gear from scratch. Made their own gear? For the tallest mountain on earth? Yep. Junko sewed waterproof gloves out of her car's cover and made climbing pants out of old curtains. They even collected leftover jam packets from school lunches. Old curtains and lunch jam? That's hilarious and brilliant. Finally, in May 1975, the team arrived at Mount Everest in Nepal, bringing six Sherpa guides to help them navigate the dangerous ice. Everest is huge. It's like 29,000 feet tall, right? Over 29,000 feet! It's so high that the air has very little oxygen, making every single step feel like running a marathon. Did they take the same path as the first guys who climbed it? Yes. They followed the south route pioneered by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. But wait, you mentioned an avalanche earlier. When does that happen? Well, by May 4, 1975, they had climbed up to Camp 2. That's a freezing, icy spot, exactly 20,700 feet up the mountain. Oh no. I have a bad feeling about this. It was the middle of the night. The 15 women and their guides were fast asleep in their tents at 6,300 metres high. And then the snow came. Suddenly, a massive avalanche crashed down the mountain, right on top of their camp. Ah! Were they trapped? Yes. The heavy snow completely crushed the tents. Junko was buried under the freezing ice for six terrifying minutes. Six minutes without breathing? She was totally crushed. The snow was so heavy, she couldn't move a single muscle, and she got knocked completely unconscious. How did she get out? The Sherpa guides managed to survive. They dug frantically through the snow and literally pulled Junko out by her ankles. Phew! That is so scary. I bet they went straight back down the mountain. That's what normal people would do. Junko actually needed two days to recover because she was so badly bruised she could barely walk. You're telling me she kept going after that? She did! The Sherpers could only carry enough oxygen for one climber to go to the top, and the team chose Junko. Twelve days after the avalanche, on May 16, 1975, Junko and her Sherpa guide, Aang Sereng, made the final push. What was the top like? To reach the very top, she had to crawl sideways across a knife-edge ridge made of ice with giant drops on both sides. She said it was the most tense experience of her life. Nope. No thank you. But she made it! At 12:30 pm, 35-year-old Junko Tobey became the very first woman in history to stand on the summit of Mount Everest. She did it! The curtain pants lady conquered the world. When she got back down, she was incredibly famous. She got a huge parade in Nepal, and thousands of cheering fans met her at the Tokyo Airport in Japan. Did she finally stop climbing and relax? Not a chance. She actually hated all the attention. She just wanted to climb, not be a celebrity. What did she climb next? Everything. By 1992, Junko became the first woman ever to complete the seven summits. The seven summits? What's that? It means she climbed the single highest mountain on every single continent on Earth. All seven continents? That's crazy! Yep, she climbed Aconcagua in South America, Denali in North America, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Vincent in Antarctica. All of them. Wait, did she have to make more curtain pants for all of those? Probably not. But she still refused to take money from big companies because she said if she took sponsorships, climbing would feel like working for a company. How did she pay for it then? She paid for her trips by giving piano and English lessons to kids and leading mountain tours. A piano teacher who conquers the world. That is so cool. Here's a really wild fact. Junko is literally out of this world now. An astronomer actually named a giant space rock after her. A space rock? Like an asteroid? Yes! Asteroid 6897 is officially named Tabe. And in 2019, scientists named an entire mountain range on the dwarf planet Pluto after her too.

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So now there are mountains named after her in space? That is the best thing ever. Alright, Finn, it's quiz time! Let's see what you remember. Oh boy, okay, I'm ready. Bring on the questions. First question. What year did the Avalanche hit the Mount Everest expedition? Next one. Exactly how tall was Junko to be? Question three. What was the name of the club Junko founded in 1969? Here's number four. How many minutes was Junko buried under the snow during the avalanche? Last question. She was the first woman to climb the highest peak on every continent. What is that achievement called? Great job! Let's see how you did. Lay the answers on me. The first answer is the Everest expedition happened in 1975. Knew it. For question two, she was just four feet nine inches tall. Still can't believe someone my size climbed Everest. Number three, the answer is she founded the Ladies Climbing Club of Japan. Haha, the best club ever. Question four. She was buried under the snow for six minutes. Still gives me the chills. And the final answer is climbing the highest mountain on every continent is called the Seven Summits. Boom! Crushed it. Junko Tobay's story is proof that you should never let anyone tell you that you're too small or too weak to achieve something huge. Yeah, if people say you can't do something, just build a pair of curtain pants and climb a mountain anyway. Exactly! And speaking of huge things, we'd love it if you could leave a five-star review for our show. Just like Junko never gave up, don't give up on finding that review button. Just scroll down and tap the stars. Oh, and don't forget to check out our site kidopoly.com. We've got tons of fun learning games and activities there. Yeah, head over to kidopoly.com for more cool stuff to explore. And if you want to shout out on the show like Zoe or just want to say hi, email us at hello at kidopoly.com. We love hearing from you guys. Thanks for listening, everyone. See you next time on History's Not Boring. Bye!