‘Wait here’: Father leaves young son alone on Mount Fuji ... for hours

London: A man who left his seven-year-old son on Japan’s Mount Fuji alone for hours while he hiked has been reprimanded by police.

The boy was taken into police custody after he was found sitting on a bench 2000 metres up Japan’s highest mountain in fog and rain with only a soft drink and a snack on Thursday morning.

The boy, from Nagoya, said he had started climbing the hill with his 48-year-old father and his brother, but had complained of being too tired to continue.

His father had told him to “wait here”, SBS TV reported, while he continued the 3700-metre ascent with his elder son, who had gone on ahead.

TV Asahi said the boy had been told to wait for hours at the sixth station of the mountain, with no money.

Staff at a mountain hut alerted police to his presence after spotting him on his own at 7.30am local time (8.30am AEST).

They invited the boy inside the hut and let him take shelter there while they waited for officers to arrive.

Officers contacted the father, who had reached the eighth station, and handed the boy over to him when he arrived back.

It was estimated the boy had been left for about three hours, Japan Today reported.

The police officer told AFP that officers gave the man a scolding for leaving the child behind.

“Even if it means having to give up on climbing the mountain together, leaving a child behind is unacceptable,” one told him, according to Japan Today.

‘Rash decision’

The father reportedly apologised to the police, admitting the act was careless. “I made a rash decision, and I deeply regret it,” he said.

The family had reportedly been following the Fujinomiya route up the mountain beginning at the fifth station, which is accessible via public transport.

It takes five hours to reach the peak from there and a further three hours to get down.

Every year, about 200,000 people climb the mountain, which is a popular landmark in Japan and located on the island of Honshu, south-west of Tokyo.

It is one of three traditional “Holy Mountains” along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku in Toyama Prefecture and Honshu, respectively.

It is an active volcano and was granted World Heritage Status in 2013.

The Telegraph, London

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