Nepal, May 25 -- unko Tabei (1939-2016) is remembered not only as the first woman to summit Mt Everest in 1975, but also as an irreplaceable lifelong friend of Nepal.

It was 1975, the International Women's Year. And 2026 is the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Nepal. The timing could not be better for the special screening on 30 May at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KMIFF) of the Junko Tabei biopic, Climbing for Life.

As a Japanese citizen who has lived in Nepal for 36 years, and was a member of the same mountaineering club as Junko, I am among the generations she inspired.

Junko received worldwide acclaim after her epic climb, and even while suffering from terminal...