In a startling incident that has raised concerns over child safety on Japan’s highest mountain, a 48‑year‑old father was reprimanded by local police after leaving his 7‑year‑old son alone on Mount Fuji for several hours while he continued the climb with his older child.
The boy was found sitting on a bench in the fog‑shrouded and rain‑wet section of the mountain, above 2,000 meters (6,500 feet). He was clutching a soft drink and a snack as he waited, descending the steep path with only limited supplies.
Police arrived on the scene after staff at a nearby mountain hut spotted the child near the sixth station of a popular hiking route. Authorities tracked the father to the seventh and eighth stations, roughly a three‑hour trek from the sixth station, and discovered the situation had been ongoing for several hours.
The climb was part of the Fujinomiya route, starting from the fifth station that can be reached via public transport. Roughly fifteen minutes after the father returned, the son was reunited with him, exhausted and fussy after an eight‑hour wait.
“Even if it means having to give up on climbing the mountain together, leaving a child behind is unacceptable,” a police spokesperson told a local news outlet. The father apologized for the reckless decision, noting he did not realize how long his son would have been waiting.
As a reminder, Mount Fuji is part of one of Japan’s three ‘Holy Mountains’ and attracts around 200,000 hikers annually. A World Heritage site added in 2013, it remains an active volcano that requires climbers to follow strict safety protocols, especially when minors are involved.
Following the incident, local authorities are reviewing applications to enforce mandatory safety checks for families and consider stricter penalties for those who violate child‑protection guidelines on the trail.
