Her accomplishments included climbing new technical routes on various mountains in Alaska, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan and China.
In 2009, she became the first female mountaineer to win the prestigious International Climbing award Piolet d'Or (Golden Ice Axe) after completing the first ascent of the Southeast Face of Kamet (7756 m) in India, sharing the award with her climbing partner Kazuya Hiraide.
[1][2] She was known for her fearless Alpinist climbing style with no Sherpa support and was considered a pioneer among her peers.
When she was in school, she came across a book written by Naomi Uemura, and determined that she would climb mountains one day.
In December 2015, when trekking with a few other climbers on Mount Kurodake in the Daisetuzan mountain range in Hokkaido, Japan, she slipped while taking a break and fell to her death.