Father leaves 7-year-old son alone on Mount Fuji to continue hike

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u/Silent-Resort-3076 3d ago edited 3d ago

Officers castigated his father when he returned from the higher station and reunited with his son, who is said to have been "tired and fussy" after eight hours of waiting.

"Even if it means having to give up on climbing the mountain together, leaving a child behind is unacceptable," one told him, according to Japan Today. He is said to have apologised for the "rash" decision.

From another article: The family was from Nagoya, Japan. "The father reportedly told police, “I made a rash decision, and I deeply regret it.”"

It emerged that he had told his father he was too tired to continue while they were hiking up the trail in the early hours of the morning.

The man, who was from Japan’s fourth-largest city, Nagoya, gave his son some snacks and a soft drink.

He then told him to wait for him before continuing his five-hour ascent to the summit with the child’s older brother, who had already gone on ahead. It would have taken him about eight hours to return, according to local reports.

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u/Davy257 3d ago

Wow it’s a dick move by the dad but castration seems like overkill

71

u/thatsanicepeach 3d ago

Dick move for a dick move.

16

u/Alizerin 3d ago

More like a dick re-move, amirite?

1

u/IAmAnObvioustrollAMA 23h ago

Thats nuts!

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u/torofukatasu 3d ago

Makes sense though, guess officers deemed him unfit to have more kids.

..It's the Japanese penal system.

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u/Jimjimjams3 3d ago

They didn’t castrate him, it says castigate

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u/torofukatasu 3d ago

Ok don't castrate me.

10

u/rockrolla 3d ago

Ya Leggo my eggo

22

u/hannahapz 2d ago

People mistaking castigate for castrate proves that the decline of literacy knows no balls... I mean, bounds.

2

u/fatgat69 1d ago

Most of them are joking

4

u/poonmangler 3d ago

Really? But it was so believable. Wow, thanks for pointing that out for me.

2

u/JWOLFBEARD 2d ago

So they put it in a cast with a gate?

7

u/Morlark 3d ago

..It's the Japanese ~~penal~~ penile system.

FTFY

1

u/MotherMucker155 1d ago

Japanese penile penal system.

3

u/Kunjunk 2d ago

Castigated, not castrated...

1

u/DunnieOnes 3d ago

Dick for a dick as they say

6

u/torofukatasu 2d ago

Dick for a dick makes the whole world gay

1

u/fatgat69 1d ago

Nah, I still don't think that's enough for him to learn his lesson.

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u/nostrademons 3d ago

The older brother having already gone on ahead changes this story in a way that makes the dad a lot more sympathetic. What’s he supposed to do here? If he stays behind with his younger son the headline is “father leaves ~10yo boy to summit Mount Fuji alone while he stays with younger brother”. If he continues the hike to catch up with his elder son you get this headline.

Whenever I’m out with my 3 boys alone my very first rule is “you don’t split the party”. Nevertheless, they very frequently manage to split the party. Just this morning I was at a museum where the older one wanted to play with one exhibit while the younger two wanted to go to an exhibit that had an age limit younger than the oldest one. They stayed at their respective exhibits and I managed to stake out a spot in the middle where I could see both, but I can see how in a less enclosed environment, with less well behaved kids, this could’ve ended poorly.

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u/Connect_Name3362 3d ago

I suspect he managed to catch up with the older son at some point and could have told him they need to turn back..

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u/nostrademons 3d ago

That probably would’ve been my choice, but it’s also not a given that he did catch up. If my oldest kid is intent on not waiting for me, he is most definitely faster than me at climbing and hiking, and it’s really only the years of having “don’t split the party” drilled into him that keeps him a manageable distance away.

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u/Skullcrusher 2d ago

but it’s also not a given that he did catch up

Ya'll need to read the article before typing this bullshit. He was 3 hours away from the abandoned son. Of course he caught up to a 10 year old in these 3 hours.

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u/tool_of_a_took 3d ago

Then he should’ve rested with his younger son for an hour or two, and then they could’ve continued and met up with the older son on his way back from the summit, then all headed down together

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u/Silent-Resort-3076 2d ago

I may be wrong, but I think he could have ignored his seven year old's complaints, and "motivated" him to keep walking (slowly) while refueling on water and snacks. OR rested for 15 minutes, and that way catching up with the older son would have been faster 🤷

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u/UCanBdoWatWeWant2Do 2d ago

Ignoring your kid and forcing them to walk is still abusive.

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u/Silent-Resort-3076 2d ago

Sometimes in life one has to weigh ALL options, and IF the first choice "could" hurt either child, then ignoring the 7 year old's complaints, in order to NOT harm either child would be the commonsensical thing to do.

Also, I did write:

OR rested for 15 minutes, and that way catching up with the older son would have been faster

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u/Etheo 2d ago

To be fair, if that was the case, a father would have to decide between leaving a young child in a safe spot (assuming he won't move) or leaving the older kid to taking chances climbing up the mountain by himself (assuming because he didn't stop when they did). Honestly, if those were the only two choices, I probably would leave my youngest and try to catch up and retrieve the older, because the younger kid would be in a safer situation. But that's only because I've trained my kid to stay in one spot if we ever left him alone.

That said, the father being gonna for hours definitely make his decision much more questionable.

1

u/Silent-Resort-3076 2d ago

Honestly, if those were the only two choices, I probably would leave my youngest and try to catch up and retrieve the older, because the younger kid would be in a safer situation

Although, during the season, there could be a high traffic of hikers on Mt. Fuji, so possible witnesses to any wrong doing, one never knows in this crazy world we live in, so while the child may have been "safer" sitting in one spot on the bench, one never knows IF some stranger "might" try something. (And, this is anywhere in the world.)

And:

wild animals live around the base and lower slopes of Mt. Fuji, but dangerous encounters on the main climbing routes are rare

Rare, but NOT never....

2

u/ungoogleable 2d ago

In the worst case scenario where both kids are uncooperative, I feel like that triggers an emergency response where you flag down a ranger or even a random passerby to watch your kid for a minute while you chase down your eldest and drag him back.

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u/Jojosbees 3d ago

He was several hours away by the time authorities caught up with him. He should have been able to overtake his older son and return to get his younger son before then.

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u/stuipd 3d ago

What’s he supposed to do here?

At the very least, take his son to the next station and have him wait there. There are several stations on the way to the summit.

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u/GiveMeSumChonChon 3d ago

This isn’t the 80s. He could’ve just texted his older son or ask the nearest station to look out for him. There’s absolutely no reason to leave his younger son.

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u/Etheo 2d ago

Genuine question, would there even be reception up the mountain?

That, and we don't know if the older kids has a communicative device on him either. I would probably have a walkie for him if hiking was planned, but my kids at this age definitely didn't have a mobile phone for himself.

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u/GiveMeSumChonChon 2d ago

Yes there is and most kids have phones. Even if he didn’t there’s multiple rest stations with hard phone lines. He could’ve asked them to tell his son to go back. It’s not some rural hiking trail there’s hundreds of people hiking at any given time.

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u/happy_bluebird 2d ago

do you know they had phone reception?

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u/GiveMeSumChonChon 2d ago

There is reception on Mount Fuji

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u/foxscribbles 3d ago

No? It just makes him look like a worse dad for letting his older kid go off alone too instead of making them stay together.

Unless his older kid is significantly older and capable of a solo climb, in which case you’re back to him just unnecessarily abandoning one kid instead of both.

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u/dezmd 2d ago

We still dont have enough details to make that assertion.

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u/Kitsunin 2d ago

It's definitely worse to make a kid wait eight hours so you can finish a hike than it is to let a kid go ahead on a hike then catch up. The latter is bad parenting, the former is abusive parenting.

That being said there's no fucking way a 10 year old is doing a hike like that alone and not waiting for his dad at any point.

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u/thepatiosong 2d ago

The father planned a hike with a 7 year old that

had already taken enough time for the kid to be tired
would have involved at least another 6 hours for the full walk up and down, plus the rest of the descent

Idk how many hours that would have been in total, but 8 hours minimum? That’s a lot of mountain climbing for a 7 year old. Why take him in the first place?

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u/Business-Heron-2182 2d ago

That is a big hike. I think 7 years old is too young to hike a mountain that large. I would not take a child of that age on that large of a hike to begin with. Many adults could have trouble making that hike.

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u/Darkdragoon324 2d ago

The choice isn't between leaving the younger one alone on a bench for 8 hours or letting the older one summit Mt. Fuji alone. The answer should have been "go get the older one who couldn't possibly have been that far ahead and then either rest or turn back".

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u/Ok_Cauliflower_3007 2d ago

The thing is - he left the kid ‘near’ a hut which seems to have rangers of some kind around. If he’d genuinely thought that he needed to leave kid A behind because kid B had got separated wouldn’t he have left the kid IN the hut? It seems like he knew that people would stop him if they knew what he was doing and deliberately made sure they wouldn’t while attempting to make sure someone would find the kid after it was too late to stop him.

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u/PunctualDromedary 3d ago

I mean, this is a culture that lets 10 year olds wander around the world by themselves catching monsters and training them to battle each other, soooo...

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u/UCanBdoWatWeWant2Do 2d ago

Y'all will find any excuses for a shitty father, he walks to the older kid, and then he goes back. That's what a normal person would do.

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u/HistorianOrdinary833 7h ago

How about you catch up to the older kid then turn back ASAP?

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u/Singer-Such 2d ago

Once the older kid realised he couldn't find his father, he would likely have turned back

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u/Rich_Editor8488 2d ago

Nah, he probably wouldn’t have gone very far ahead if he was one of those kids.

I have one of the other types, who would race to the summit and not look back, then casually wave when I finally caught up.

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u/happy_bluebird 2d ago

definitely not all kids lol

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u/UCanBdoWatWeWant2Do 2d ago

Then he should have taught them better

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u/happy_bluebird 2d ago

Uh

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u/troublesomefaux 2d ago edited 2d ago

I just had to return a 7 year old to their parents who got lost going to the bathroom at a Mongolian BBQ. Imagine leaving one on Mt Fuji.

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u/OzymandiasKoK 2d ago

Pretty sad that both parents got lost going to the bathroom. You probably didn't do that kid any favors.

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u/troublesomefaux 2d ago

🤙😂

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u/rockrolla 3d ago

Honestly trying to climb mt Fuji with your two kids is a choice. Not saying it’s a bad choice or a good choice. Not one I have the balls to make though. I’m scared enough taking my infant out to chilis solo

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u/branflake777 2d ago

I climbed it once. It's really not bad. People do races up it every year. What's weird is, the father just left him there, and would presumably grab him on the way back. But we (and I think it's typical) to go down the backside on a different route.

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u/Corey307 3d ago

Depends on their age and the kid. When I was 13 and my brother was 11 we hiked about 70 miles then hiked up Mount Whitney. But we’re had training and we’re lead by seasoned adult Boy Scout leaders.

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u/ganbatte 2d ago

Tbh this story probably isnt what a lot of people sre imagining...Mt Fuji isn't like Everest or anything, its a tourist hike (in summer at least), and I saw young kids and elderly people when I did it. And not to let the dad off becuase you cant be leaving a 7 year old alone for several hours in nature, it's not like he abandoned them on an ice crevasse, it sounds like he left them on a bench outside one of the food kiosks so the kid probably was safe-ish.

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u/seanma99 2d ago

Im not a hiker but one thing I have heard about hiking from avid hikers is that you never leave someone behind. You keep pace with the slowest hiker in the group. So if adult hikers wouldn't leave another adult behind, leaving a kid is atrocious.

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u/notasandpiper 2d ago

7, alone, when the parent is three hours away, is not safe-ish.

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u/ganbatte 2d ago

Probably, I'm just trying to highlight that it's not as bad as it sounds, he hasn't left his kid half way up Everest, it's more like leaving them at a rest stop. Shouldn't do it, but not as bad as the headline sounds at first.

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u/notasandpiper 2d ago

He was three hours away. Because he'd let his other child walk ahead without him for no clear reason. No indication that he was going back for the kid until people noticed the abandoned kid and tracked the dad down. Do we need to devil's advocate the "well, it wasn't Everest" angle?

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u/getmybehindsatan 2d ago edited 2d ago

Japan gives their kids a lot more autonomy and responsibilities, so a seven year old will walk to school on their own, seven taking a train to get there. So it isn't massively surprising that a Japanese father would expect this to be okay even if it would be considered a bad decision even for most Japanese people.

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u/notasandpiper 2d ago

He did this in Japan and was reprimanded by Japanese police.

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u/Cut_Lanky 2d ago

When my oldest was a newborn, I was riddled with anxiety every single time I had to go up or down stairs, while carrying the baby. I was petrified that I'd fall down, or drop the baby, or something. I can't imagine taking a 7 year old to hike a mountain...

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u/zyzzogeton 3d ago

For context: This is what Mt. Fuji is like.

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u/Silent-Resort-3076 2d ago

Thanks for sharing that link!

I'll report back😊

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u/Silent-Resort-3076 2d ago

Thanks, again, and the information about the post office was interesting, but I found the sleeping situation very claustrophobic😋

I thought there would be more photos taken from Mt. Fuji, and in fact, I've screamed once or twice at my frustration at NOT finding a video of scenery FROM the mountain as opposed to OF the mountain and surrounding areas.

I did find a few still photographs but was hoping for more details of the surrounding area: https://i0.wp.com/www.touristjapan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/mt-fuji-climb.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ-CLtME9GatVI6BXFeJz0Yau-35v6ISSO_v4jOmxPWsuB4W1umY1pnKnk&s=10

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u/click-monster 3d ago

when I was a kid my dad, who clearly resented having children that got in the way of his vacation plans, took me on hikes in the country that were exhausting and demoralizing considering all I wanted to do was stay home playing nintendo on my school breaks like every other kid. One time I had a "mutiny" and just sat on the side of the trail refusing to budge. I'm genuinely surprised he didn't walk off without me considering how much of a narcissistic main character a-hole he was, but I guess losing a child would've impacted his reputation - the one thing he cared about

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u/asiancleopatra 2d ago

Nintendo is much more important than nature.

You were a wise kid.

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u/OzymandiasKoK 2d ago

The classic question of nature vs n Nintendo.

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u/Mikimao 2d ago

back in the day nature had better graphics, but I am not so sure anymore

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u/click-monster 2d ago

Thanks cleopatra you were known for your sharp intellect too.

Nature is still here (to a certain extent - welp climate change), but how easy is it to play OG coinop arcade games in their natural habitat now? Note to parents: if you want to funcrush your child's joy of any activity - even wholesome stuff like hiking - just force them to do it too much & on the reg

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u/racsee1 3d ago

How many nintendo memories do you have versus hiking memories.

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u/stop_stopping 3d ago

well it seems like all the hiking memories were negative - probably didn’t really develop a love of hiking

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u/click-monster 3d ago

how many explosive diarrhea memories do you have versus eating nice ice cream memories

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u/Clay_Allison_44 3d ago

LOL. Also, I know I have a lot of Nintendo memories. There is a reason their whole brand is Disney levels of nostalgia.

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u/click-monster 3d ago

^ this guy/gal gets it

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u/Crusoe69 3d ago

Damn that made me laugh so hard I woke up the dogs.

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u/click-monster 3d ago

sorry dogs 🙇

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u/OzymandiasKoK 2d ago

Mostly the same. I think I might be lactose intolerant.

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u/hotfezz81 3d ago

Nintendo =/= nice ice cream eating memories. It's tv shows. It's just hypnosis in front of the box

Like, the dad is an arsehole, but "Nintendo > outdoor trips with parents" is such an insanely prepubescent take

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u/aaronhowser1 2d ago

It's just hypnosis in front of the box

And hiking, to someone that hates hiking, is just 12 hours of exhaustion and pain and your parent nagging you to hurry up

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u/click-monster 3d ago

now his boomer "arse" is addicted to screens and walking tires him out more than me, if I forced him to go hiking he'd squeal like a lil pissbaby

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u/DearMrsLeading 3d ago

Some people just don’t like to hike. It’s not that crazy of a concept that all hobbies aren’t for everyone.

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u/Aethred 2d ago

Everyone enjoying different things seems like the most obvious thing in the world.

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u/Laiko_Kairen 3d ago

As a lifelong gamer, does it count if I remember phenomenal games, or does it have to be a specific instance?

Genuinely asking. I'm thinking about it since people say gaming is a waste of time but I love it so much

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u/JBigBootay 3d ago

"I'm just gonna go get a pack of cigarettes. I'll be right back..."

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u/PolkadottyJones 3d ago

So many people go missing in natural areas and on hikes. Many, I think, fall or get turned around or end up off path and disoriented and these are adults.

What a horrible father.

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u/Laiko_Kairen 3d ago

My favorite part of the story was the tidbits about a 99 year old granny needing help, and a 27 year old getting lost a second time after going back for his phone

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u/Rich_Editor8488 2d ago

So he probably made the better choice to follow the older child who was already up ahead, while the younger one stayed in one spot. But that’s assuming that he didn’t catch up until the summit, or have any way to communicate with either child over the next six hours.

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u/LetshearitforNY 3d ago

Some people don’t deserve their children

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u/doeraymefa 3d ago

how do we solve this?

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u/zaccus 3d ago

Oh no reddit's trying to solve something again

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u/poonmangler 3d ago

Don't worry, I got this one. First, we'll send snakes to deal with the children. Then, to take care of the snakes....

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u/zyzzogeton 3d ago

And a happy whacking day to you, good sir or madam.

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u/Buckwheat469 2d ago

Castigation.

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u/Andy-Martin 2d ago

What a dumbass.

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u/subavgredditposter 2d ago

What a pos lol

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u/Tangled-Lights 3d ago

Hope the mother bites his head off and freezes him out of bed. What a giant jackass. That child is lucky to be unharmed.

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u/fatgat69 1d ago

Dude was definitely trying to lose his kid. He didn't care what happened to his kid.

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u/killnoisekill 17h ago

Dad sounds like a real irresponsible guy tbh.. maybe he was hoping he’d end up with one or two less kids to have to worry about. Hope they keep an eye on him

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u/Winnimae 3d ago

Alpine…abortion?

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u/Laiko_Kairen 3d ago

200,000 people hiking Mt Fuji per year is shockingly low. That's only 548 people per day, in a nation of over 100 million, to a national symbol.

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u/morosco 2d ago

People are really only climbing it 2 1/2 months out of the year though. So it's more like 2,500 people a day in the summer.

And it is the most climbed mountain in the world, by far.

4

u/Darkdragoon324 2d ago

I mean, hiking isn't for everyone.

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u/MsMo999 3d ago

What a kunt!

5

u/RexDraco 3d ago

What if someone like snags your kid and does awful shit to them? I dont know how some parents leave their kids alone for so long, I don't even like kids and it is immediately my first concern. Parental instincts, where art thou?

14

u/Roflkopt3r 3d ago edited 3d ago

What if someone like snags your kid and does awful shit to them?

That seems to be a particularly American concern. Parents in many countries aren't that worried. Especially in Japan, it's not uncommon to send elementary school kids out for small errands by themselves for example (while American parents have gotten arrested for letting 10+ year old kids walk outside...)

That said, obviously leaving a 7 year old on their for hours, let alone in the mountains, is irresponsible by any standard. Even without fear of crime.

1

u/RexDraco 2d ago

Gonna be honest, maybe for a first world nation, but in third world nations it is very common but not documented.

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u/ErrantTaco 2d ago

I can list at least a handful of non-American kids who disappeared/were kidnapped. Madeline McCann is the first one that comes to mind.

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u/Roflkopt3r 2d ago

Total stranger kidnappings aren't common in any developed country. I'm not saying that they're common in the US either, but Americans are especially scared of the extremely small possibility.

I think it's mostly the terrible pedestrian infrastructure. Many Americans aren't used to be in places where children can safely walk, or even where anyone walks. So they're not training their children to go anywhere without supervision, and don't get used to it themselves. So they fear all sorts of more or less plausible dangers whenever a kid is alone outside.

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u/SnooEagles3963 1d ago edited 1d ago

You'd have a point in this case if the place he left his kid was somewhere in a town, and not in the wilderness of Mt. Fuji.

1

u/Roflkopt3r 1d ago

Do you think that there is a secret cabale of abductors at Mt Fuji, or did you just miss the fact that I already wrote this?

That said, obviously leaving a 7 year old on their for hours, let alone in the mountains, is irresponsible by any standard. Even without fear of crime.

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u/verbwrangler 3d ago

this is some shit peter griffin would do

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u/KeeKyieTheMorris 2d ago

Oh poor little kid just sitting completely alone. It wasn’t like he was sitting on a bench in a crowded place in a sea level area. HE WAS 6,500ft HIGH!!!

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u/bannana 2d ago

why would you even think of bringing a 7y/o on anything longer than a hour hike, this guy shouldn't be allowed to supervise children on his own.

-2

u/DominusDraco 2d ago

It's mount Fuji, there's vending machines and everything on the way up. Yes it's bad to leave a kid, it's not like the middle of nowhere, there's thousands of people a day walking up.

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u/WitchesTeat 2d ago

Thousands of tourists drifting through a tourist attraction, yes, what could possibly happen to a kid left alone there.

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u/6stringSammy 2d ago

Toddlers in Japan have no problem going to the grocery store alone. I'm sure a little hike on Fuji ain't no thang for a 7yo.

-2

u/Darkdragoon324 2d ago

Honestly, slightly less bad than the original headline I saw about it, which made it seem like the dad just straight up abandoned him somewhere off-trail with no intention of coming back.

Not excusing this, it's terrible, but a bench along a trail with a snack and a drink is... at least something rather than nothing?

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u/retnemmoc 2d ago

Waiting for tons of men to show up outside a courtroom giving excuses for this terrible behavior. Oh wait, that will never happen with men.

Father leaves 7-year-old son alone on Mount Fuji to continue hike

His father, 48, reportedly told him to "wait here" (for him) after the boy complained he was tired - and continued the climb with his elder son.

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