TOKYO: A seven-year-old Japanese boy was found alive on Friday nearly a week after his parents left him in a bear-inhabited forest as punishment for misbehaving, hungry but unharmed in a hut on a military base.
A soldier discovered Yamato Tanooka who had apparently walked some 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) from the spot where he was abandoned last Saturday, finding shelter in the hut where he huddled in a pair of mattresses.
During his ordeal, in rugged terrain on the northern island of Hokkaido, he drank from a tap near the corrugated-iron hut, and was immediately given food when he was found.
Yamato’s parents have been severely criticized by the Japanese public for forcing him out of their car on a mountain road to teach him a lesson for throwing stones at cars and people.
After the emotional discovery, the contrite father appeared before the media outside the hospital where the boy was taken for a check-up, bowing as he apologized for his “excessive” actions.
“The first thing I said to my son was, ‘I’m very sorry to have caused you to face this suffering because of me,’” said Takayuki Tanooka, adding that the child nodded in reply.
“I deeply apologize to people at his school, people in the rescue operation, and everybody for causing them trouble,” he added, thanking those including military and police who spent days searching in cold and difficult conditions.
Self-Defense Force spokesman Manabu Takehara said the boy “looked in good health” but had been taken to hospital by helicopter as a precaution.
The parents originally told police that their son got lost while they were out hiking to gather wild vegetables along with their daughter, but later admitted they had become angry with him for throwing the stones.
They ordered him onto the road, bounded on both sides by thick mountain forests, and quickly returned only to find him missing. Days of frantic searching found no trace of the child.
The boy told police that he walked to the military base that Saturday night, finding shelter in the hut located in the complex, according to the local Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper.
A soldier discovered Yamato Tanooka who had apparently walked some 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) from the spot where he was abandoned last Saturday, finding shelter in the hut where he huddled in a pair of mattresses.
During his ordeal, in rugged terrain on the northern island of Hokkaido, he drank from a tap near the corrugated-iron hut, and was immediately given food when he was found.
Yamato’s parents have been severely criticized by the Japanese public for forcing him out of their car on a mountain road to teach him a lesson for throwing stones at cars and people.
After the emotional discovery, the contrite father appeared before the media outside the hospital where the boy was taken for a check-up, bowing as he apologized for his “excessive” actions.
“The first thing I said to my son was, ‘I’m very sorry to have caused you to face this suffering because of me,’” said Takayuki Tanooka, adding that the child nodded in reply.
“I deeply apologize to people at his school, people in the rescue operation, and everybody for causing them trouble,” he added, thanking those including military and police who spent days searching in cold and difficult conditions.
Self-Defense Force spokesman Manabu Takehara said the boy “looked in good health” but had been taken to hospital by helicopter as a precaution.
The parents originally told police that their son got lost while they were out hiking to gather wild vegetables along with their daughter, but later admitted they had become angry with him for throwing the stones.
They ordered him onto the road, bounded on both sides by thick mountain forests, and quickly returned only to find him missing. Days of frantic searching found no trace of the child.
The boy told police that he walked to the military base that Saturday night, finding shelter in the hut located in the complex, according to the local Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper.
