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Junko Tabei

Japanese mountain climber (1939-2016)

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ234491 ↗
Source-derived summary

Junko Tabei (Japanese: 田部井 淳子, Hepburn: Tabei Junko; née Ishibashi; 22 September 1939 – 20 October 2016) was a Japanese mountaineer, author and teacher. She was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and ascend the Seven Summits, climbing the highest peak on every continent.

Tabei wrote seven books, organized environmental projects to clean up trash left behind by climbers on Everest, and led annual climbs up Mount Fuji for youth affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

An astronomer named asteroid 6897 Tabei after her and in 2019, a mountain range on Pluto was named Tabei Montes in her honor.

Early life

Junko Ishibashi was born on 22 September 1939 in Miharu, Fukushima, the fifth daughter of seven children. Her father was a printer. She was considered a frail child, but nevertheless she began mountain climbing at the age of ten, going on a class climbing trip to Mount Nasu. She enjoyed the non-competitive nature of the sport and the striking natural landscapes that came into view upon reaching the top of the mountain. Although she was interested in doing more climbing, her family did not have enough money for such an expensive hobby, and Ishibashi made only a few climbs during her high school years.

From 1958 to 1962, Ishibashi studied English and American literature at Showa Women's University.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Junko Tabei” as japanese mountain climber (1939-2016). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1939, 2016, 2019, 1958—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1939-09-22. The account is most persuasive where Junko, Tabei and Japanese can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as japanese mountain climber (1939-2016). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q234491. VIAF identifies the subject as 39249738. The Library of Congress control number is nr93024776. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1939, 2016, 2019 and 1958.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Junko Tabei”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Junko Tabei primary sources, Junko Tabei archive and Junko research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Junko Tabei”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Junko Tabei” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.