7-year-old boy left behind on Mt. Fuji by his own dad

A 7-year-old boy from Nagoya found himself in an unexpected situation on Thursday morning when he was left unattended on Japan's tallest mountain, Mt. Fuji, by his father. The father, aged 48, was hiking with his older son and the younger boy on the Fujinomiya Trail, a popular route to the mountain's summit. The younger child grew tired around the sixth of the trail's ten stations and asked to wait, but his dad told him to stay put and continued hiking towards the peak.

Given the distance between the sixth station and the summit, the father clearly expected his younger son to wait for at least seven and a half hours, and possibly longer due to breaks, photo-taking, and summit admiring. Fortunately, a mountain hut worker discovered the unattended boy around 7:40 a.m., took him inside the hut for shelter, and alerted the police.

The father, who was near the eighth station, was contacted and instructed to return for his son. The boy was found safe, without any injuries, and was reunited with his father. However, the ordeal served as a reminder of the potential dangers of leaving a child behind during a mountain hike. The police urged hikers to be aware of the risks and to adjust their plans to cater to the least fit member of their group.