Mr. Yuichiro Miura, an adventurer who is 80 years and seven months old, reached the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday morning local time, becoming the oldest person to scale the world's highest mountain. We congratulate him on his feat.
His accomplishment is particularly meaningful given Japan's rapidly graying society and the fact that he is older than the average Japanese male life span of 79.55 years. His achievement will give hope to older citizens and encourage them to try to mount their own challenges in any field they like.
In 1970, Mr. Miura skied down Mount Everest's South Col, using a parachute to slow his descent. He first scaled the 8,848-meter peak in 2003 when he was 70, and then again in 2008 when he was 75. His ascent of Mount Everest this time came just six days before the 60th anniversary of the first conquest of the peak on May 29, 1953, by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepalese Sherpa.