Deaf Japanese Adventurer to Begin 2nd Expedition to South Pole

By Yuma Ikeshita / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

7:00 JST, November 17, 2024

KANAZAWA — A 54-year-old office worker who is the world’s first deaf person to stand at the North Pole and has conquered the highest peaks on five continents, is making his second attempt to reach the South Pole, 17 years after he first set foot there.

In 2012, Yasuyuki Okubo, from Nonoichi, Ishikawa Prefecture, was caught in an avalanche while climbing the highest peak in North America and had to give up reaching the summit. His spirit of adventure had waned since then but it was reignited two years ago after he was encouraged by the people around him.

Okubo will depart in mid-December and ski for around 20 days while pulling a 30-kilogram sledge loaded with food and a tent. He will attempt a challenging 111 kilometer route from a snowfield at 89 degrees south latitude to the South Pole.

Temperatures can range from minus 25 C to minus 40 C depending on the weather. Even though Okubo will be accompanied by assistants, he will not be able to rely on his hearing to communicate.

“The weather changes rapidly on a route that is over 2,000 meters in altitude, and it is a difficult attempt even for able-bodied people,” said the president of a travel agency that supports Okubo’s expedition. “I think it would be the first attempt [of this route] by a deaf person.”

Okubo lost his hearing at age 3 due to the high fever of an unknown illness. At a prefectural school for the deaf in Kanazawa, he read biographies about Helen Keller and Hideyo Noguchi. They inspired Okubo with their positive outlooks on life despite their disabilities.

“I’ve told myself I will live my life to be a better person,” he said.

His first “adventure” was as a sixth grader in elementary school when he rode his bicycle alone on the Noto Peninsula during his summer vacation. He was thrilled to be riding on a never-ending road.

Driven by his curiosity to go somewhere far away, Okubo worked hard at an electronics manufacturer and led the youth division of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf in order to save enough money to travel overseas.

In 2005, Okubo was invited by a deaf acquaintance to trek to the North Pole — and did so. Fascinated by the unknown, 18 months later, he reached the South Pole and set his sights on the highest peak on each of the world’s seven continents as his next goal. After training hard, he conquered five continents — South America, Africa, Antarctica, Europe and Australia — between 2008 and 2010.

However, in 2012 when he was on Denali — formerly known as McKinley — the highest peak in North America, an avalanche occurred near his camp while he was sleeping, and four Japanese climbers went missing. Okubo was fortunately unharmed but had to give up his dream of conquering all seven continents due to financial issues and other problems, which left him depressed.

Eventually, he changed his mind and thought, “There are other adventures out there,” and traveled to Somalia and Djibouti, where he interacted with deaf children.

Two years ago, Okubo decided to go on another adventure. After he kept being asked where he would climb next everywhere he went, and experienced the sudden deaths of people who supported his activities and fellow climbers, he felt renewed will to “live up to their expectations.”

Okubo now spends a couple of hours everyday after work training by carrying weights.

“I’m looking forward to communicating with people from various countries,” he said. “I’m certain that moving experiences await me.”