Missing 7-year-old boy left in mountains by parents as punishment

Face palm.

Seven , Not a lot to be said except "Rōnin"

The parents left the boy in the mountains

Other reports say they walked 500 meters and then went back to get him. That's a long distance, but I'm not sure it constitutes leaving the boy in the mountains. I hope they find him.

To abandon a 7 year old in the mountains ? I've never known that to be sage advice for good parenting, maybe it is part of the parenting culture here?

What the......? I'm speechless! The left their kid in a bear habitat as punishment? i wonder how long 'immediately' was. If they lied about dumping him there, you can bet they are also lying about how long they left him there. Unbelievable!

the parents later admitted they had lied

Changing the story to the police is always a bad sign. It would not be a surprise if the story changed again.

They said they went back to the site immediately

The went off and left him. They went a very long way. And when they eventually went back for him he was no longer where they had left him. That is what the parents are telling us now.

It would not be a surprise if the story changed again!!

“The parents left the boy in the mountains as a punishment because he disobeyed them when they told him to stop throwing stones at other cars passing by,”

Throwing stones at passing cars? Sounds to me like these parents have other issues with child-rearing that need to be looked into.

That is what the parents are telling us now.

That is what the media are telling us now.

"That is what the media are telling us now"

Wrong! I just watched an interview with the father. The father was speaking via the media. I was looking at his face; watching his eyes... and I don't believe a word of it!!

It would not be a surprise if the story changed again!!

I don't know what to said, but I guess they don't want this kid in some point.

The seven-year-old child wakes up early on a Saturday morning all excited as usual. The parents eventually get up and scratch their heads as they once again have to think of something fun to do.

The parents say: "Let's go picking wild edible plants in the forest."

The child is happy because it sounds like such fun. He is glad that his parents love him so much to look after him and help him learn and grow. He is happy as he gets into the car...

Never to return home.

I have the feeling that the parents are still not be totally honest.

Shutting children in suitcases, leaving them in the forest as punishment - Japan needs parent training.

This is not what parents do in Japan. This is excessive and misguided corporal punishment. Would like to know the full story on this one, and sadly suspect the parents thought about abandoning their child altogether and had a change of heart. But, it ended up being too late.

Disillusioned, I feel exactly the same about your comment.

Were there many passing cars on this mountain track for the boy to throw stones at? It sounds like the parents have killed the boy and buried him in the forest.

if you love and care about your child, no way will left him in the mountain as punishment, don't buy that

A fair point, Scrote. Not to mention the kid would've either had to have had stones with him and throw them from the car, or there would've had to have been wide places off the mountain road where one could stand and throw rocks. I'm not in Hokkaido, much less near that mountain, but I'm not entirely sure that mountain roads in Japan provide that opportunity.

So sad, I feel really sorry for that little boy, all alone in the forest I hope they find him quickly!

The idiocy of Japanese parents never ceases to amaze me!

I hope this boy is found alive.

Parenting skills in Japan sure are abyssmal. Certainly the boy should not be throwing stones at passing cars, but to abandon a seven year-old in bear country is idiotic.

According to news reports, the dad is 44! Sounds more like 24-year-old thing.

The idiocy of Japanese parents never ceases to amaze me!

I don't want to judge a whole nation by the idiocy of one parent, but in cases like this ...

Provided the child had the sense not to enter any rivers, he is probably fine. The temperatures are not cold enough right now to kill overnight unless he got soaking wet.

Unfortunately it seems like the majority of Japanese children do not know how to swim.

The likelihood of a bear attack is so remote it's not worth much consideration.

I really hope he stayed away from water.

There is the possibility that the parents are lying and that they killed their own child and left his body in the first place.

While I wouldn't put this together with the two year old and three year old on top of each other in the plastic box, which was sadistic and in my book, lock him up for manslaughter, this is still clearly excessive.

I live in inaka and some of the locals tell stories how they grew up with their dads hitting them and tieing them up to the daikokubashira. By the sound of things, their teachers and sports coaches would hit them too. So my strong suspicion is that this kind of parenting and disciplining is coming from previous generations. Which means the government needs to step in and start laying down some boundaries about what is and isn't acceptable. Jiji chan may have beaten his wife and kids at the first sign of disobedience, but that doesn't mean people should continue doing it, especially now that the lasting effects of a traumatic childhood and the circle of violence are well understood.

Here's hoping the boy is okay.

Unfortunately it seems like the majority of Japanese children do not know how to swim.

Say what? Pretty much every elementary school in this country has a pool and swimming lessons.

The police should take the boy's sister right away from these parents. Hope the boy will be found safe, if he really got lost.

"It sounds like the parents have killed the boy and buried him in the forest"

Yes.

"I don't want to judge a whole nation by the idiocy of one parent"

It was both parents actually, but the nation is being rightly judged by the REACTION to the situation. It is being reported in England and everyone is watching Japan now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36408641

Pretty much every elementary school in this country has a pool and swimming lessons.

But the school pools are shallow and the kids get no experience of swimming in a current or when out of their depth. Our kids had swimming lessons at school and went to weekly lessons at the local swimming school, but they didn't really learn to swim until we took them to places where chasing after the fishes took precedence over getting the form right.

Lots of people (not only Japanese) who know how to swim in a pool panic when they find themselves out of their depth in real water.

As for the article; what kind of parent takes a child into bear country in the first place? This really, really stinks. I hope the boy is found safe.

Strangerland

Say what? Pretty much every elementary school in this country has a pool and swimming lessons

Schools here have english lessons and sometimes have Native speaking teachers, why can't they speak english then? Admit it, Japan has parenting issues, how many news I see here almost everyday about kids falling from balconies, kids getting abondoned alone inside their houses, your apologists views is not going to help resolve these problems.

All readers back on topic please. Posts that do not focus on the story will be removed.

Is he found?

I really do not know who to believe in this only the parents know the truth.

No, I don't think he is found and he has been lost two days ;-; Accidental death in Japan is focused on the article. The father speaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DHLpOkNY-8

This story - had it happened in my country - would be all over the news for days if not weeks, and then again would dominate when the case went to the criminal trial. Certainly it would not be "bumped". And Im from a city of nearly 5 million (Sydney). I remember when living in the UK things like this would also top the news when they occurred.

Just hoping for a miracle and that the boy is alive, but I sadly fear foul play. These awful "parents" are dishonest and abusive at the very minimum.

Tbe child is a by now dead most probably... in the woods on Hokkaido?... you know there are bears around there (may be)

Good grief what a bunch of idiots. Speechless.

****The same case has happened in Oregon. a logging company with similar working employees. You wonder why? Yup! Every time, Summer Beer's cause accidents????

Something smells fishy ...

This is beyond disgusting, and at the VERY least, IF the boy is found alive, the parents should NEVER get to lay a hand on him ever again, nor even be able to see him without police present. I'd say maybe not without Social services present, but social services here are more likely to hand the kid back to the parents to be murdered than to protect him.

It's a pretty popular mountain for hiking. If he was on the trail, he'd have been found within 24 hours.

Jail the parents for child abuse, and take the child into protective custody or place him with relatives.

it doesnt make any sense.

what did they do? drive back to the forest, drop him off and drove away? A lot of effort for that punishment. if child was misbehaving, a slap on the rear takes less effort than driving back to the forest. If the child was dropped off by car (after throwing rocks), the child would follow the road/trail. kids that age are scared of monsters and would stay on paths family adventure picking up vegetables? yea, there are a lot of rocks out there. the stones (pebbles?) are not able to reach another passing car (velocity/wind) and a child that age if the cars were not moving, it is possible, but the parent could have gotten out, taken the rocks, spanked or scolded the child and be on their way.

but they decided to drive to a secluded area and leave him with nature, off of a trail? the parents would have to run fast and away to get the child lost. the child would have done everything to catch up with their parents.

unfortunately, this child is most likely dead given the information from the news.

Is there some kind of law against abandoning a live body, as well as a dead one? Geez. I am going to assume that the parents will update their story again later, since they are having such a difficult time finding the young man. There are a lot of people working hard up there looking for the little fellow.

It's beyond belief what people can do to their children. Imagining the fear and agony the child must haven gone through makes me very sad and I wonder if there is still hope.

This story - had it happened in my country - would be all over the news for days if not weeks, and then again would dominate when the case went to the criminal trial. Certainly it would not be "bumped". And Im from a city of nearly 5 million (Sydney). I remember when living in the UK things like this would also top the news when they occurred.

I also doubt this will stay in the news too long, unless there are major updates in a short period of time. That's just how news works in Japan. I remember when they finally caught some of the last Aum Shinrikyo fugitives a few years back. It was all of the news for a few days, and then nothing, including little to no updates on legal proceedings in major news outlets, print or television. If this was anywhere else, you can count on it being on the news forever, until convictions are handed out. Hardly the best way to inform people about these sort of ongoing things, but perhaps reflects a bit of apathy of the people as well.

The parents are bad, are idiots, and likely also criminal but what about the welfare of the kid?

A few people have asked this in comments. Just checking on NHK from an hour agohttp://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20160530_22/ - they're still searching.

I hope the young boy is found and NOT returned to the "parents".

The idiocy of Japanese parents never ceases to amaze me!

The idiocy of a few Japanese parents , very few. Just the things that these few do grabs everyone's attention.

That'll learn him

If the worst possible scenario does happen, please leave the parents in an unknown forested area and let them fend for themselves.

I suspect the young fellow was not actually alive when they left him.

I hope they find this little chap soon, once this has settled down I think that they should be given the bill for the use helicopters, tracker dogs, and 150 rescuers who helped out, even if some are volunteers. I know its difficult and very stressful to bring up children, but this was a big mistake, a BIG mistake!

Jus how quickly is 'immediately?'This is so screwed up on so many levels. Hope the young boy is found safely immediately. No disobeyment should ever be punished by putting a child in a life-threatening situation. Unbelievable.

According to another news site: Parents put the child out of the car for throwing stones at people & vehicles. Q: Was the boy throwing the stones from the car?

They drove 500m and then returned to where they put him out. The most common reactions the child would do would be:

) Stand/sit at that spot; 2.) Run after the car. There may be a third. Q: Did the boy run into the woods upon seeing the car return?

This means the boy is deliberately hiding. Hunger and thirst would end that fairly quickly. Something does not add up...

What of the child abuse that never makes the news? There is plenty of that! For sure there is an underclass present in Japan that is by all accounts devoid of common sense - with the summer here, children locked in cars and dead from the heat will be reported right here on JT.... .

This is outrageous and I lack words to describe this act

Peter qingnai:

" The most common reactions the child would do would be: 1. ) Stand/sit at that spot; 2.) Run after the car. There may be a third. Q: Did the boy run into the woods upon seeing the car return? "

Many more possibilities. He could have also started walking, or someone picked him up.

In any case, the parents are a piece of work. To expect a 7 year old boy to stay put after having told him he was being abandoned.... mind boggling.

Probably the boys at home dead somewhere...They are just wasting everyone's time

I find it hard to believe that 150 adults could not find a 7 year old in two days if he was actually there.

What of the child abuse that never makes the news?

Apparently, this is a customary form of punishment. The missus, put the eldest out of the house for disobeying when they were six or seven. An ex-colleague 's neighbor did the same to their daughter, I think the same age (forgot the reason) on a cold night years ago.

If one wants to be part of the group, one must comply to the authority. Non-compliance is met with banishment.

But how different is this than sending a child to their room, or any other 'western' form of 'time-out'?

The difference comes from how it is perceived by the child. In western children, more independence is instilled, so, for most, it's not perceived as so traumatizing to the child. Whereas in Asian societies, being part of the group is very important. Therefore, the trauma will instill compliance in the future.

They probably murdered him and faked the story. Give it a few days.

"If one wants to be part of the group, one must comply to the authority. Non-compliance is met with banishment"

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

The child has no CHOICE to be part of the group, and the "authority" is in fact a PSYCHOTIC BULLY merely abusing the power and position that society has afforded them.

"the trauma will instill compliance in the future"

No it will not. The trauma will instill POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER in the future, and perpetuate a dysfunctional population mired in mental illness. The BBC are continuing to report on this and the whole 120m people in Japan are being judged right now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36410802

But how different is this than sending a child to their room, or any other 'western' form of 'time-out'?

In a time-out, the child is in his own room, which is known to him and a safe place, and he knows his family are on the other side of the wall. Little Yamato-kun was left completely alone on the side of a mountain in bear country. Not just outside the home (a practice I don't agree with; little kids shouldn't even be sent to their rooms, imho. The Naughty Step is there for a reason.) but on a mountain fcs.

If you cannot see the difference, gawd help your kids.

If you cannot see the difference, gawd help your kids.

Indeed.

The news is on cnn now

Peter Qinghai: "But how different is this than sending a child to their room, or any other 'western' form of 'time-out'?"

Wow, really?

Time outs usually don't involve wild bears...

The more I read the more upset I get. I read an article that said that they made him get out of the car, and he ran after it crying, so they let him in, but made him get out again. The poor kid! They made him get out at 5 pm, went back to get him and looked for him till 6 pm, then called police. It's dark a little after 6. So he's been in the woods since dark on Saturday..the timing assured that he had no time to see his surroundings.

The stone throwing took place at a park the family went to near their home. They played in the river in the park and he carried away some small river stones that his parents say he 'threw in the direction of other people and cars'. So on their way home from the park they dumped him in the woods. Holy (fill in the blank)!

There are many other ways to discipline a boy than to leave him stranded in the mountains. I never had the urge to abandon my son for an instant! These are dysfunctional parents.....

LOL!!!!! With parents like these... who needs enemies....???

Laws in Japan are different. 7 and 8 year olds can be left alone at home. So, they return home from school to find an empty home, for example. The rationale is that somebody they know is nearby.

himajin #

" The more I read the more upset I get. I read an article that said that they made him get out of the car, and he ran after it crying, so they let him in, but made him get out again. "

Wasnt the story that they disciplined him for throwing stones at cars? How can he through stones at cars from inside their car, and that in a location where there are hardly any cars in the first place? I dont get it.

Danny Bloom: "The news is on cnn now"

Not just CNN, but other news stations world-wide. Japan is really just showcasing its poor parenting, now. Thank god for the added pressure of international media. They might actually have to do something to the parents now.

Terrible case very fishy.

But I'd point out that there are 120m people in Japan, so one father's actions can hardly be taken as representative by anyone. Also it is absolutely not ok under Japanese law to leave a 7 year old alone, although admittedly many people do it.

The parents originally lied to the police as to what happened, then change their story. At this point the truth hasn't been told yet. The longer the parents wait, the harder it will be to find their son, assuming he is still alive.

I don't think from that depressed face of him in the interview of TV that the father is hiding other things furthermore. He seemed to me to be really in sorrow and must be regretful for his act. To be sure, he was wrong, but there is no need to blame him.

Thinking the boy may be shaking his body in fear for help as I am writing here, I become very sad. I hope he will be found totally safe. He is definitely still alive.

Did they check the trunk?

"I don't think from that depressed face... that the father is hiding other things furthermore..."

But that is exactly the point. He would need to be an Oscar-winning Hollywood actor to be convincing. He was pulling a normal "depressed face" and "sorrow" but that is not the right reaction.

His emotion should be: I left my boy in the woods and he is probably dead and EVERYONE WILL THINK I KILLED MY OWN SON so I will probably go to jail for TEN YEARS. My life is over!!

And he would not be sitting in the car while 120 other people are looking for his son. He would be looking for his son even more than everyone else - even all night. Sitting in the car doing a TV interview shows that he knows that the boy is already dead.

There is a reason why Hollywood actors get paid so much money. Because it is very difficult to fake an emotion convincingly if you have not experienced it before. And he can't fake it convincingly because there are so many LOVING parents in the world who know just how they would react in such a situation...

But the father is expecting that 120m Japanese people will say "shouganai"

News of this poor boy made up to Brazil, hope he is found sound and safe. But, even in a bear country, wouldn't he be (or some sort of evidence) found by now? Something sounds fishy, indeed. I think they hurt him badly somewhere else and then decided to create a scenario where a bear would be the culprit.

Why can't Police deploy an helicopter with special infra-red sensors used to detect body heat? Or Japanese Police doesn't have any?

WilliB-

Wasnt the story that they disciplined him for throwing stones at cars? How can he through stones at cars from inside their car, and that in a location where there are hardly any cars in the first place? I dont get it.

They went out to a park to play, they have a little brook where kids can safely play in the water. The family was there for a while, and when they left the park to go home, Yamato-kun brought some stones with him and started throwing them in the parking lot. They got in the car to go home and they left him in the woods on the way home.

Yes, there are boys that can drive you nuts on occasion and you can't help a feeling of disconnect at that moment, a feeling of not caring,of desiring an end to the tortures inflicted on the parent. Whether this applies here we may not know, but that blitz of letting go, of "terminal stage," it does exist.

Sadly all the signs are there for a bad outcome to this story. The news reports that the mountain track is rarely used exept by locals occasionaly taking a shortcut....so what cars was the poor boy throwing stones at? There is some speculation as to what has actualy happened to the poor boy...and I have to say I tend to agree. The whole story is beginning to sound like a fabrication. I pray their is a happy ending, no child deserves to be treated in such a way.

he can't fake it convincingly because there are so many LOVING parents in the world who know just how they would react in such a situation...

No, there are so many people who think they know how they would react. No one actually knows how they would though.

..so what cars was the poor boy throwing stones at?

At cars in the parking lot of the park they were playing in before they dropped him in the woods. The words are on the way home from the park.

Very sad...but, the kid was throwing rocks at people and cars. Not off to a very good start. Perhaps he did that to a bear, and the bear did not like it?

but, the kid was throwing rocks at people and cars. Not off to a very good start.

The news said 'In the direction' of the parking lot of the park they were in. Judging by the news footage, he wasn't close enough to hitting anything.

I can't believe some of these comments. Kids will do stupid things. You tell them they're wrong, you don't write them off (comments about 'what a brat!' 'the parents already have a problem!' ' maybe he has developmental problems' etc) .

Really think back, HONESTLY about some of the crap you all pulled at 7 years old. Should your parents have abandoned you for it? Were you already a brat? Washed up at 7? I think not.

My parents would, and did, on occasion, start to drive off when my brother or I took too long at Wal-Mart, and we would always run after the car, but they'd stop and let us in. I always felt bad when this happened to nmy brother and Mom or Dad would start to drive away, because he'd always run after the car, crying for Mom and/or Dad to wait. I can't imagine a parent doing this in the mountains, late at night, in the rain, to a young child like this. It was hard to watch when we were at Wal-Mart or Kroger, knowing Mom and Dad would stop, but to see the same, to know the same was happening to a little boy outside, in the harsh weather, in a forsted mountain road? It rips my heart out and I'm not even there. I think that my wife would knock me for six if we did this to one of our nieces or nephews (and my conscience woujld be roaring at me if I even thought of trying this). How cold and heartless can a set of parents be towards their child? So what iof he was tossing rocks at cars? There are other means and forms of discipline, even if he was a screaming Harpie in the car later. Were I the authorities, these parents would be brought up on negligent abandonment. The daughter needs to be sent to relatives' care TODAY!

Both parents, the mother and the father should take a lie detector test. The authorities need to minimize discrepancies to the information that were given by the parents.

LostinNagoya:

" But, even in a bear country, wouldn't he be (or some sort of evidence) found by now? "

Not necessarily. You are looking for a pretty small body, and this is really dense forest. We are all speculating at this point. I hope he is found alive, but it does not look good.

I am hoping for a MIRACLE, this situation has been laying heavy on my mind since I first heard about it and everyday I hope to hear he is found but worried the When another day goes by and he is not found!

Hooray!!! Boy is safe! Not lost any more. Wonderful news!!