A father has been reprimanded by police in Japan after leaving his seven-year-old son alone on Mount Fuji for several hours, with only a soft drink and some food.
The child was found sitting on a bench in foggy and rainy conditions, at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters above sea level.
According to reports, the 48-year-old father had told his son to “wait here” after he complained of being tired.
Then, the father continued his climb to the top of the mountain with his eldest son.
Staff at a mountain refuge found the child near the sixth station of one of the trails to the summit and notified the police.
Authorities managed to locate the father between the seventh and eighth stations, about three hours away from where the child was.
The boy was found alone around 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning. He had been waiting for about eight hours before his father returned and reunited with him.
According to police, the child was “tired and anxious.”
The officers severely reprimanded the father for his decision.
“Even if it means giving up climbing the mountain together, it is unacceptable to leave a child behind,” they said, according to Japanese media.
The father reportedly apologized, calling his decision hasty.
Mount Fuji, at 3,776 meters, is one of the most popular mountaineering destinations in Japan and has been the scene of several incidents in recent years.
Around 200,000 people climb the mountain each year, while daily limits have been imposed on some of the routes to avoid overcrowding.