He was 7 years old and told his dad that he couldn’t go on anymore.
The incident occurred on August 20, 2026, on the Fujinomiya Route of Mount Fuji, more than 2.000 meters above sea level. The 48-year-old father, who was from Nagoya, left him a drink and some food, ordered him to wait at the sixth station, and continued climbing with his older brother, who was 12, toward the summit.
Hours later, fog and rain set in. A mountain hut worker found the boy alone, sitting on a bench, and notified the police. The officers took him into protective custody and went to look for his father, who had already reached the eighth station, three hours’ hike farther up. When they intercepted him, they told him something that sums up the whole case: leaving a child behind is unacceptable. He apologized and admitted that he had made a mistake, but according to CNN, he could now face criminal liability for the decision.