On 19 November 2019, a mountain range on Pluto was named Tabei Montes in honour of Tabei's mountaineering accomplishments. The theme for naming mountains on Pluto is "Historic pioneers who crossed new horizons in the exploration of the Earth, sea and sky". On 22 September 2019, Google commemorated the 80th anniversary of her birth with a Doodle. The accompanying write-up gave her a motivational slogan, "Do not give up. Keep on your quest." Junko Tabei continues to be an inspiring figure for women and girls from around the world thanks to her brilliant mountaineering accomplishments and dedication to the state of the environment. Junko Tabei was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and the first woman to ascend the Seven Summits, climbing the highest peak on every continent. Tabei wrote seven books, organized environmental projects to clean up rubbish left behind by climbers on Everest, and led annual climbs up Mount Fuji for youth affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Tabei was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2012, but continued with many of her mountaineering activities. In July 2016, despite her advancing illness, she led an expedition of youth up Mount Fuji. She died in a hospital in Kawagoe in October 2016. Before Tabei's death, an astronomer had named asteroid 6897 Tabei after her.
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