Japan honours NMA for marking 70 years since Manaslu first ascent
Ambassador Maeda Toru presents the Ambassador’s Award to Nepal’s mountaineering body for commemorating the historic 1956 climb
Japan’s Ambassador to Nepal, Maeda Toru, on Thursday honoured the Nepal Mountaineering Association for organizing events to mark the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Manaslu.
Toru presented the Ambassador’s Award to NMA president Fur Gelje Sherpa at a ceremony at the association’s office in Kathmandu, praising the role of mountaineering in strengthening ties between Japan and Nepal.
“Through mountaineering, our people-to-people relationship has reached a new height,” Toru said.
He also paid tribute to climbers killed in an avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak last month. Six Nepali climbers including renonwed mountaineer Nirmal Purja ‘Nimsdai’ killed in the incident.
Ambassador praised the NMA’s role in strengthening Nepal-Japan relations through mountaineering.
President Sherpa thanked the Japanese government and the ambassador for the recognition, saying the award reflected the longstanding ties between the two countries and Japan’s contribution to Nepal’s climbing community.
The NMA led celebrations in May to mark the platinum jubilee of Manaslu’s first ascent in 1956.
Japanese climber Toshio Imanishi and Nepali mountaineer Urkien Tshering Sherpa made the historic first ascent of the 8,163-metre mountain on May 9, 1956.
The anniversary was marked with events on May 9 and 10 in Samagaun, a gateway to Manaslu in Gorkha district, and in Pokhara.
In Samagaun, organisers unveiled statues of Imanishi and Sherpa, while commemorative events were also held at the International Mountain Museum in Pokhara.
A 3D model of Mount Manaslu was installed at the International Mountain Museum, while a documentary on the first ascent was screened.
Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain, was first climbed from its northeast face. Urkien Tshering Sherpa became the first Nepali to summit the peak in April 1973.
The NMA said it had maintained close ties with the Japanese Alpine Club in developing Nepal’s mountaineering sector since the historic first ascent.
