A seven-year-old boy was abandoned by his father on Mount Fuji when he complained of being tired during a family climb, according to local media reports.
The child, from Nagoya, had been hiking the Fujinomiya Trail on Japan’s highest mountain with his 48-year-old father and older brother on Thursday.
The family had reached the trail's sixth station, about 2,490m (8,170ft) above sea level, when the younger boy said he was too tired to continue.
His father is said to have told him to wait there before continuing towards the summit with his older son, SBS TV reported.
According to the official Mount Fuji climbing website, the journey from the sixth station to the summit takes more than five hours, while the return descent takes about two and a half hours.
The boy was later found sitting alone on a bench near a mountain hut at about 7.40am local time, where worker spotted him, took him inside for shelter and promptly contacted the police.
Police identified the boy's father and contacted him, SBS reported. He was near the trail's eighth station and was told to turn back to collect his son.
While the child was unharmed and was safely reunited with his father, police have urged hikers to consider the abilities and stamina of everyone in their group when planning an ascent, and to adjust their pace accordingly.
“Even if it means having to give up on climbing the mountain together, leaving a child behind is unacceptable,” officers told the boy's father, per Japan Today. He reportedly told police that he “deeply regrets” his decision.
Mount Fuji, at 3,776m (12,389ft), is Japan's highest mountain and attracts large numbers of climbers during the summer season. The Fujinomiya Trail is one of four main routes to the summit.
Earlier this year, officials from a nearby village issued a warning to tourists to stop tossing coins into ponds at the Unesco World Heritage site. The eight ponds, found in the village of Oshino Hakkai, are known for their mineral-rich spring water fed by an underground reservoir created by Mount Fuji’s melted snow and often teeming with koi fish.
But with 50,000 coins retrieved from the ponds, locals were concerned about the effect on the environment.
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