The father who abandoned his son “as punishment” apologises after the child is found alive and well.
A seven-year-old boy who went missing after his parents left him in a Japanese forest “as punishment” has been found alive and unharmed.
Seven-year-old Yamato Tanooka was found in military barracks near Shikabe in northern Hokkaido, around four kilometres from where he was left.
His parents initially said he had got lost, but eventually admitted briefly abandoning him for being naughty.
His father has apologised to his son and rescuers, saying, “we went too far”.
An apologetic Takayuki Tanooka, the father, said to a news briefing outside Hakodate hospital, where the boy was taken for checks, “My excessive act forced my son to have a painful time.”
“I deeply apologise to people at his school, people in the rescue operation, and everybody for causing them trouble,” he was quoted as saying.
“I have poured all my love into my son, but from now on, I would want to do more, together with him. I would like to protect him while he grows up. Thank you very much.”
On May 28, Yamato was left in a forest on Hokkaido, Japan’s most northerly main island, on May 28 by his parents as punishment for throwing stones at cars and other people during a family day out.
Later, on June 3, a week later, three soldiers from the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force found the boy in a cabin on the remote wooded military base. The soldiers had ducked into the cabin to avoid a rain shower, Hiroki Komori, a spokesman for the 11th Brigade of the Northern Army said.
The soldiers gave the boy rice balls and tea from a canteen, Komori said. He was taken to Hakodate Municipal Hospital by ambulance.
NHK said he had told rescuers he “walked through the mountains” until he found the shelter.
More than 200 rescue workers, mounted police and local civilians have been scouring the forests for the last six days, with the military also joining the search.
Temperatures had dropped to just six degrees at night and the area experienced heavy rain over the last few days, with hopes that the boy -- last seen wearing only a T-shirt and jeans -- would be found alive fading.
Japan has been transfixed with the story since it broke, with people taking to social media to criticise the boy’s parents for taking such extreme measures to discipline him.
