Masako Izumi, an actress and adventurer who made history as the first Japanese woman to reach the North Pole, has passed away.
Videos by Suggest
Izumi reportedly collapsed in May and was hospitalized in Tokyo. She had been recovering at home but died on July 9 due to an unspecified cancer, per Japanese outlet NHK. She was 77.
Izumi, born in Tokyo on July 31, 1947, became one of Japan’s most popular film stars. She started as a child actress, making her debut at 12 in the 1959 film The Snow Flurry per her IMDb profile. Her career took off in the ’60s after joining Nikkatsu Studios.
She is known for her role as Wakae in Kirio Urayama’s 1963 film Bad Girl, which won a Golden Prize at the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival.
Her other films include The Seven Challengers (1961), Wakakusa Monogatari (1964), Tattooed Life (1965), and Men and War Part II (1971). She also appeared in TV shows like Shin Heike Monogatari and Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari.
Beyond her acting career, Izumi was also a talented singer, best known for her hit duet “Futari no Ginza” with Ken Yamauchi.
Masako Izumi’s Accomplishments as an Adventurer
However, she is perhaps best known as an adventurer, making history in 1989 as the first Japanese woman to reach the North Pole. Her journey to this milestone was not without challenges.
In 1985, she made her first attempt but was forced to abandon the mission just 120 miles from the goal due to perilous conditions, including heavy snowfall and fractures in the Arctic ice.
Meanwhile, her second attempt in 1989 was a success, with reports stating that Izumi reached the North Pole by snowmobile. The journey was accompanied by such a large entourage of cameramen and reporters that locals nicknamed Resolute Bay (NWT) “Little Tokyo.”
According to the AdventureStats website, the 1989 expedition is recorded as having started on March 10, 1989, and concluded on May 10, 1989.