11-year-old boy confirmed dead after going missing on mountain

Tuesday 03rd November, 05:59 AM JST

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10 Comments

USNinJapan2 at 09:19 AM JST - 3rd November

He started to climb by himself from the second station on the mountain and then disappeared.

Stupid parents.
jewel at 10:17 AM JST - 3rd November

I disagree that the parents are "stupid". Boys are full of energy & like to explore not walk at the snail pace of a grandpa and little sister. This is an accident that could have happened even if he were walking with the parents. It is not good for children especially boys to be put in an overprotective box where they are not allowed to move or explore with the fear that they might get hurt. The boy should have been given some safety precautions and told to stay on the path but there is nothing wrong with letting an 11 y.o. boy explore. We cant live life in fear. That isnt life. Nor should we put guilt trips on parents who will already put enough guilt on themselves. These parents need comforting and support not cruel accusations.
jewel at 10:18 AM JST - 3rd November

I disagree that the parents are "stupid". Boys are full of energy & like to explore not walk at the snail pace of a grandpa and little sister. This is an accident that could have happened even if he were walking with the parents. It is not good for children especially boys to be put in an overprotective box where they are not allowed to move or explore with the fear that they might get hurt. The boy should have been given some safety precautions and told to stay on the path but there is nothing wrong with letting an 11 y.o. boy explore. We cant live life in fear. That isnt life. Nor should we put guilt trips on parents who will already put enough guilt on themselves. These parents need comforting and support not cruel accusations.
USNinJapan2 at 11:26 AM JST - 3rd November

jewel

Please. The accident that ended this boy's ife happened long after the parents lost control of him. An 11 year-old, just like the elderly climbers that keep dying on mountains, isn't capable of surviving alone on a mountain like this and should never be far out of sight of capable adults. I'm all for letting boys (and girls of course) explore and roam around within a reasonable distance of their guardians, but these idiot parents let their child take off up the mountain after only the second stage on an eight+ stage mountain. That's a lot of distance and associated danger. Being over-protective as you say is one thing; lacking common sense is another. No, these parents are stupid, at least in this regard.
nedinjapan at 12:52 PM JST - 3rd November

There is so much emphasis on letting children free, and not intrude on their actions, that supervision has become less and less prudent. I have seen so many cases where children do crazy things and parents dont intervene although it could be too dangerous. This case could be just an unlucky incident but the bad routine is already there!
hoserfella at 03:48 PM JST - 3rd November

jewel, where in the parent's handbook does it advise anyone to climb alone, let alone an 11 year-old child? The parents share most of the blame in this one. Again, complete lack of common sense.
dolphingirl at 06:23 PM JST - 3rd November

hoserfella: I'm with you on this one. Poor kid. Alone for up to 2 days on a mountain. If only they could have found him sooner...
Zybster at 09:28 PM JST - 3rd November

My son is 11. We have been climbing together and I've never been holding his hand, but I have always been able to see him. I have seen a few places which we so dangerous I thought he would fall off, so I always told him to be in a place where he could see us. Mountains are dangerous, people are actually dying there. If the parents are not able to understand it and properly protect their children, tragedies may happen. And here a tragedy happened, because the parents didn't have enough imagination. Teaching children independence shouldn't end up in a tragedy caused by lack of supervision.
numbskull at 02:22 PM JST - 4th November

The parents are stupid, yet Jewel does have a point. But I think the buck stops at climbing mountains, which are more dangerous than people realize. This is because most people are also stupid, not just these parents.

When I was 11, I roamed all over heck and back. A whole bunch of bad things could have happened. But I climbed high hills, not mountains. I never heard of anyone dying in the hills back home for falling off, getting lost for days and suffering exposure or dead by attacks by bears or other wildlife. This is not the case with the mountains of Japan. But people here treat them like local playgrounds. Stupid.

If anyone in your family insists on getting out of sight in mountains like these, I suggest you run over and grab them, stuff them in the car and head home at once.

Then again, the boy's insurance might have quite the attractive payout! Maybe the parents were not really stupid?
Dad_dog at 04:06 PM JST - 4th November

This article does not give enough information for snap judgements regarding parental culpability. Theorize all you want, but "There but for the grace of God go I" would perhaps be the reaction of not a few parents.