Posted on 08/22/2026 4:31:08 PM PDT by xxqqzz
A Japanese father was berated by cops when he ditched his fussy 7-year-old son alone on Mount Fuji — then kept climbing toward the iconic summit with his older son.
The 48-year-old dad, who is from Nagoya, was hiking the Fujinomiya Trail Thursday with his sons, ages 7 and about 12 or 13, when he left the younger boy near the trail’s sixth checkpoint about 8,000 feet up Japan’s tallest peak, according to Japan Today.
The boy complained that he was tired during the climb, but his dad told him to “wait here” and continued toward the summit, which is the mountain’s 10th checkpoint.
A Japanese father abandoned his 7-year-old son on Mount Fuji’s Fujinomiya Trail to continue climbing with his older son.
“Even if it means having to give up on climbing the mountain together, leaving a child behind is unacceptable,” police told the father, according to the outlet.
The boy’s father admitted that he “made a rash decision, and I deeply regret it.”
The climb from the sixth checkpoint to the summit takes more than five hours, with another two and a half hours or so required to return to the same point, according to the Mount Fuji website.
Police believe the father left the boy around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, potentially leaving him alone on the mountain for hours.
However, the boy did not wait that long for his dad and brother to get back.
The boy complained that he was tired during the climb, but his dad told him to “wait here” and left him alone for hours.
Around 7:40 a.m., a mountain hut worker near the sixth checkpoint spotted the child sitting alone on a bench, brought him inside for shelter and contacted police, according to the outlet.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY!!
:o)
I saw a marmots. And we went down a different way that we went up, and passed a guy with a camel. I seem to remember that he was walking cross country with the camel. Anyway, something you don’t expect to see in the Sierras.
I am SO glad that my dad took me to Riverside Amusement Park and the Dodgers vs. the New York Metropolitans and to his own performances in local theatre as lead in Carousel, Oklahoma and Fiddler on the Roof.
Guess I am not a country boy.
Oh. “Berated.” I read it at first as “Beaten.” Beaten would not have been out of character, either.
There’s a funny Mike Meyers SNL skit in this sorry story!
“You left your son on the side of Mount Fuji to be robbed by bandits and eaten by bears! You are a sorry excuse for a father! I see you have another strapping son with you. Now, both of you take turns carrying youngster to the top!”
>It was worse than a rash decision. It was selfish and dangerous.
Yeah, in Japan those 60, 70, 80, 90% stops all have lodging and people mulling around resting from hypoxia. My buddy went up with his ex and she couldn’t continue after the 90% even with cans of spray oxygen. They were in their 20s as well. It’s a pretty brutal climb as there’s just so little oxygen.
Bringing a 7 year old on the climb was foolish.
What you wrote makes a lot of sense.
You saw a MARMOT?
That's quite unusual. Good for you.
A camel in California IS unusual. I lived in the Middle East and saw a few. :o)
The middle easterners use only female camels for anything. The male camels are ALWAYS brangling and brawling and end up being useless to people.
I see reading is no longer considered fundamental.
There is nothing in the article that says he has three children.
I guess it isn't, or maybe you just need to get your eyes checked.
There is nothing in the article that says he has three children.
Really? Did you even read the article? It wasn't even necessary. You replied to my post #15, and at the top of the post I quoted the article:
How do you read that as meaning anything but him having at least three children? Reading, you know, being fundamental and all.
When I was about 12 in 1964 I almost summited Mt Fuji but our Japanese interpreterâÂÂs son started getting altitude sickness just past the 9th station and we had to go back down. I vividly recall US Marines running up past us. They were in great shape.
My buddy went up with his ex and she couldn’t continue after the 90% even with cans of spray oxygen. They were in their 20s as well.
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Wow, it sounds rough. No wonder the 7 year old got tired.
Oh, I get it, you mean the “or”! I must have offended you, I mistakenly thought you had a real point. Good on you. So, he may only have two children. He still is at almost double the Japanese birth rate just with those. You can go back to coddling your little snowflakes.
Oh, I get it, you mean the “or”! I must have offended you, I mistakenly thought you had a real point. Good on you. So, he may only have two children. He still is at almost double the Japanese birth rate just with those. You can go back to coddling your little snowflakes.
I went up Chattanooga's Lookout Mountain at 13. It looks easy until your heart points out that it's almost a 45 degree angle on a lot of loose ground.
>Wow, it sounds rough. No wonder the 7 year old got tired.
Yeah, hikes start around 50% up so the kid got tired quickly.
Oooooooh, Dat Tu Long.
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