A 48-year-old father in Japan has received a serious warning from police after allegedly leaving his seven-year-old son alone on Mount Fuji for several hours so that he could continue hiking with his older son.
The child was reportedly found sitting alone on a bench at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres as rain fell on Japan’s highest mountain.
According to reports, the family was climbing Mount Fuji when the seven-year-old boy said he was tired. The father allegedly told the child to wait and continued climbing with the boy’s older brother.
Workers at a mountain hut near the sixth station of the Fujinomiya hiking route later found the child alone and alerted police. The boy was reportedly discovered at around 7:30am local time on Thursday.
Police later located the father near the eighth station, around three hours away from the point where the child had been found. Officers strongly criticised him for leaving the young boy alone on the mountain.
According to Japan Today, a police officer told the father that leaving a child in such circumstances was unacceptable, even if it meant ending the family’s climb together. The father reportedly apologised to police.
The Fujinomiya route begins at Mount Fuji’s fifth station and is one of the routes accessible by public transport. Hiking guides estimate that the journey to the summit can take about five hours, followed by around three hours for the descent.
Mount Fuji stands at 3,776 metres and attracts around 200,000 climbers every year. Authorities have faced increasing safety concerns and rescue incidents on the active volcano in recent years.
The mountain, located southwest of Tokyo, received UNESCO World Heritage status in 2013 and is regarded as one of Japan’s three traditional Holy Mountains. Visitor limits have also been introduced on some climbing routes to help manage overcrowding.
The latest incident highlights the safety risks faced by climbers on Mount Fuji, particularly children and inexperienced hikers who may encounter sudden changes in weather and difficult conditions at high altitude.
