Marin Minamiya holds a Guinness World Record as the youngest person to complete the "Explorer's Grand Slam," which is climbing “the Seven Summits” (the highest peak on the seven continents) and ski to the North and South Pole. Marin climbed Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Denali, Mount Vinson, Mount Aconcagua, Mount Elbrus, and Carstensz Pyramid. Marin was first motivated to undertake the challenge at the age of 17 and she conquered the highest peak on every continent within a year and a half. She became the youngest Japanese person ever to summit Mt. Everest. At age 20, she became the youngest person in world history to complete the Explorer’s Grand Slam. Speaking Japanese, English and Mandarin Chinese, Marin moved to Malaysia when she was 18 months old due to her father’s profession, then lived abroad for 12 years in Shanghai and Hong Kong. She began climbing mountains at age 13 in Hong Kong.

In December 2016, Marin was announced as the first female Global Brand Ambassador for the clothing company UNIQLO. She was also selected as one of Japan’s “Change makers of 2016” by Nikkei BP, “Woman of the Year 2017” by VOGUE and "Forbes 30 under 30 list 2018" as one of the 30 young brightest change makers under the age of 30 in Japan by Forbes. She was awarded the 2016 AVON Social Innovation Award, the 2017 WIRED x Audi Innovator's Award, and the 2018 Waseda University President's Award. Marin, who is studying Political Science and Economics at Japan's Waseda University, will be pursuing undergraduate studies at Columbia University in New York.