In the fall of 1832, Tatsu Takayama reached the 3,776-meter summit of Mount Fuji, becoming the first woman on record to have scaled Japan’s highest peak.
“I want to encourage all women to climb the mountain,” she said before reaching the summit, according to historical accounts.
Takayama’s accomplishment wasn’t only an adventurous pursuit, but an act of defiance against rules known as nyonin kinsei, or pre-Meiji Era (1868-1912) customs that prohibited women from entering Japan’s sacred sites, some of which included mountains.
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