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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.
“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.
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.
The father had climbed near the eighth checkpoint, roughly three hours farther up the trail, when officers were able to get in touch with him.
Police ordered him to turn around and retrieve his son.
The child was unharmed and was safely reunited with his dad.
Police have not indicated whether the father will face any charges.
Officials also issued a broader warning to hikers, urging groups to stay together and set their pace according to the least physically capable member.
Mount Fuji rises more than 12,000 feet above sea level and is Japan’s tallest mountain.
It is an active but dormant volcano that last erupted in 1707, when the Hoei eruption sent volcanic ash as far as what is now Tokyo.
The Fujinomiya Trail is one of the main routes used by climbers attempting to reach the summit.
Last September, a 102-year-old Japanese man set a Guinness World Record as the oldest person to reach Mount Fuji’s summit for a second time.
In April 2025, a climber was rescued from the mountain twice in the same week after being airlifted off the peak — only to return later to retrieve his cellphone.
English (US)