Father leaves 7yo son behind on Mount Fuji to continue climb
More than 200,000 people climbed Mount Fuji in 2025. (AFP: Takehiko Suzuki/The Yomiuri Shimbun)
In short:
Police in Japan say a father has received a telling off after he left his seven-year-old son behind on a hike up Mount Fuji.
The boy was found alone on a hiking route and was taken into police custody.
Two men died last month while climbing Mount Fuji, which is Japan's highest mountain.
A man who left his seven-year-old son behind for hours on Japan's Mount Fuji while continuing the climb, has received a stern warning from police according to local media.
The boy was found alone on a hiking route on Thursday and taken into police custody, a police officer in the Shizuoka region told news wires agency AFP.
The child told his father he was tired at the sixth station of the mountain, which is located at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres, local network SBS TV reported.
A gate was installed to prevent overcrowding and night climbing at Mount Fuji's fifth station. (AFP: Yoshinobu Goto/The Yomiuri Shimbun)
As his older brother had gone on ahead, the seven-year-old's father told him to "wait here" and carried on hiking with his other son, according to SBS.
TV Asahi said the boy was told to wait for eight hours with only snacks, a soft drink and no money.
They said staff at the mountain hut alerted police to his presence.
Officers contacted the father who was at the eighth station and handed the boy over to him when he returned.
The police officer told AFP officers gave the man a telling-off for leaving the child behind.
The father reportedly apologised to the police, admitting the act was careless.
Fatalities recorded in 2026 hiking season
Mount Fuji, an active volcano and Japan's highest mountain at 3,776 metres, is popular with both local and international hikers.
Authorities in 2024 implemented an entry fee and put a cap on numbers to try and prevent overcrowding.
A Swiss man died last month after losing consciousness hiking up the mountain, while rescuers separately managed to save a 99-year-old woman after she was injured on the climb and sheltered in a hut overnight.
The Swiss climber's death was the second fatality since the Fuji hiking season began on July 1, after a 65-year-old Japanese man died on July 17, reportedly after falling and hitting his head.
More than 200,000 people climbed the mountain last year, down from about 220,000 in 2023.
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