{"id":1562,"date":"2026-05-28T13:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1562"},"modified":"2026-05-28T13:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:35:13","slug":"japanese-woman-who-scaled-the-worlds-14-top-peaks-says-she-wants-to-share-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1562","title":{"rendered":"Japanese woman who scaled the world\u2019s 14 top peaks says she wants to share joy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>TOKYO<\/strong> | The first woman to conquer the world\u2019s second-highest peak, K2, three times has also summited all 14 of the world\u2019s tallest mountains.<\/p>\n<p>But Naoko Watanabe, 44, says climbing is less about piling up records than enjoying an adventure, being happy and experiencing new people, food and culture. She\u2019s planning to return in June to her favorite climb, Pakistan\u2019s Nanga Parbat, known as the \u201ckiller mountain,\u201d with a group of amateur trekkers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just an ordinary person who has happened to achieve records while climbing the Himalayas during my vacations,\u201d Watanabe told The Associated Press in a recent interview in Tokyo. \u201cI don\u2019t consider myself a mountaineer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Working as a nurse to fund climbing<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>In 2006, when she was a student nurse, Watanabe successfully reached the 8,201-meter (26,906-foot) summit of the world\u2019s sixth-highest mountain, Cho Oyu, on the Nepal-China border.<\/p>\n<p>It was the first time she climbed one of the world\u2019s 14 peaks exceeding 8,000 meters (26,246 feet).<\/p>\n<p>After becoming a full-time university hospital nurse in 2009, she struggled to balance work and climbing, eventually switching to temporary nursing so she could climb more often.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Climbing is not just about reaching the summit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>She has since regularly scaled the Himalayas and sees it as a way to regain her peace of mind from Japan\u2019s often stressful conformity-bound environment. She now wants to share the joy of mountain climbing with those who need a break.<\/p>\n<p>Watanabe is preparing for a trek in June to Nanga Parbat in Pakistan, the world\u2019s ninth-highest peak, which she reached in her second attempt in 2022. This time, she plans to go with a group of amateurs, most of whom will stay at the base camp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Nanga Parbat base camp is extremely scenic and it\u2019s my favorite among the 14 peaks,\u201d Watanabe said. \u201cI want everyone to see that.\u201d The participants are encouraged to follow at their own pace, freely stop, take photos and talk to the Sherpa guides.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are not supposed to be working hard,\u201d Watanabe says. \u201cI want (the climbers) to be free from the stereotypes and realize that the Himalayas can be fun \u2026 and to know there are more important things than reaching the summit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>A lifetime passion for adventure<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Born in Onojo City in southern Japan in 1981, Watanabe was encouraged by her mother to join a kids\u2019 adventure club and started climbing at age 3. She went to an island camp in China, an expedition on the Mongolian grasslands with other children, and climbed a snowy mountain in Pakistan at 12.<\/p>\n<p>Growing up, she said that her passion for adventure and climbing helped her pull through difficult times as she struggled with pressure in Japan to join collective activities and not stand out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Being a nurse helps the climbing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Her medical training has helped during her 31 expeditions over the past 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe experience (as a nurse) has become useful in the mountains when I face emergencies and need to make a quick decision on the spot about the weather or my own health conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In her first attempt at Everest in 2011, with the peak just 150 meters (160 yards) away, she decided to turn back when the weather suddenly deteriorated. Her tearful Sherpa protested, saying it was only an hour to the top. But Watanabe said she anticipated a shortage of oxygen in the tank if the weather worsened and slowed them down. On the way back, she lost her sight. They made it back safely, although she came down with pneumonia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lessons, and records, from climbing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Back at Everest in 2013 on an extremely windy day, the conditions seemed better. Other climbers retreated, but she carefully went on and safely reached the summit.<\/p>\n<p>Watanabe became the first Japanese women to scale the world\u2019s 14 highest peaks in October 2024, when she reached the 8,027-meter (26,335-foot) Mount Shishapangma in China.<\/p>\n<p>In July 2024, she also became the first woman to reach the top of the 8,611-meter (28,251-foot) K2, the world\u2019s second-highest mountain, three times, an achievement recognized by the Guinness World Records.<\/p>\n<p>Watanabe plans to keep climbing for the joy it brings her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will probably end up climbing (mountains in the Himalayas) about 100 times,\u201d she says. \u201cIt would be fun if that eventually becomes a record that I set in my own unique way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1556\">The trolls come indoors as a Danish recycling artist stages his first museum exhibit<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1558\">Jim Henson\u2019s Creature Shop opens for tours. Here\u2019s what\u2019s inside the once-hidden puppet studio<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1560\">A proposed additive ban could change New York\u2019s pizza and bagels, some say for the better<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TOKYO | The first woman to conquer the world\u2019s second-highest peak, K2, three times has also summited all 14 of the world\u2019s tallest mountains. But Naoko Watanabe, 44, says climbing is less about piling up records than enjoying an adventure, being happy and experiencing new people, food and culture. She\u2019s planning to return in June [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1101,1102,149,150,152,1103,1104],"tags":[2394,2395,2396,2397,2398,2399],"class_list":["post-1562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-0-no-apple-publish","category-1gridmagazine","category-a-town-magazine","category-celebrities","category-sentinel-lifestyle","category-uncategorized","category-z-other-galley","tag-cho-oyu","tag-k2","tag-mount-everest","tag-mount-shishapangma","tag-nanga-parbat","tag-naoko-watanabe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Japanese woman who scaled the world\u2019s 14 top peaks says she wants to share joy - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1562\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japanese woman who scaled the world\u2019s 14 top peaks says she wants to share joy - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TOKYO | The first woman to conquer the world\u2019s second-highest peak, K2, three times has also summited all 14 of the world\u2019s tallest mountains. 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