NHK Enterprises is set to release a documentary DVD, 'Junko Tabei: How to End Life,' on July 24. The film follows the final years of mountaineer Junko Tabei (1939–2016), who is celebrated as the first woman to summit Mount Everest.

The DVD features the documentary originally broadcast on NHK in 2017. The program highlights Tabei's positive and resilient philosophy of life, offering words that have inspired many on how to face their own journeys. Even ten years after her passing, her story continues to carry timeless appeal.

As the first woman to summit Everest and the first to achieve the Seven Summits, Tabei was defined by her insatiable curiosity and iron will. In her later years, while battling illness, she consistently chose to live authentically and remained forward-looking until the end.

One of her primary focuses during her struggle with illness was her annual activity of climbing Mount Fuji with high school students from the Tohoku region, which had been devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

"If you climb step by step, you will surely reach the summit."

Tabei's direct words to each student, filled with both strength and kindness, resonate deeply with the audience.

The DVD includes rare, unreleased footage as bonus content, such as messages she shared with Tohoku students in a mountain hut on Fuji, and memories she recounted while visiting Nepal in the year before her death, looking up at the peak of Everest.

Looking toward the end of life, what do we pass on to the next generation? What does it mean to live as oneself? This 'Shukatsu' (end-of-life) documentary, captured over five years by a director close to her, poses these questions to us through more than 100 hours of rare, recorded footage.

[Content Details]

Main feature: 49 minutes (broadcast on NHK General TV, Dec 16, 2017)

Bonus content: 11 minutes (unreleased)

Includes: 'Talking to Tohoku Students' and 'Everest, 40 Years Later'

[Cast]

Junko Tabei

Yoshie Ichige (Narration), and others

[Included Bonus]

Special leaflet

Publisher/Distributor: NHK Enterprises ©2026 NHK

Junko Tabei: How to End Life DVD

NSDS-54791 Price: 4,300 JPY (excluding tax), 4,730 JPY (including tax) Documentary / Sale / Main 49m + Bonus 11m / 16:9 LB / Stereo Dolby Digital / Single Layer / Color / 1 Disc

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  • Source: PR TIMES
  • Category: New Product