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Japanese Boy Abandoned In Woods Found Safe: How Did He Survive Nearly A Week?

By Georgia Makitalo
Published on: 08:09 PST, Jun 3, 2016

For nearly one week, the world had been on edge waiting for news about the young Japanese boy who was abandoned in the woods as punishment for throwing rocks. Everyone is now relieved that the 7-year-old has now been miraculously found, safe and in remarkable condition.

Where did they find this youngster, where was he for the past six days? Most of all, what were the first words from the 7-year-old Yamato Tanooka?

The world breathed a sigh of relief when a spokesman for the police in northern Hokkaido Island, Tomohito Tamura, made the fateful announcement that the boy who was abandoned in the woods was found. He explained that the little boy was found on Friday morning by three soldiers from the Self-Defense Forces (SDF). They observed that this boy could indeed be 7 years of age. Was it possible that he was the missing boy?

Then, the child “introduced himself as Yamato Tanooka” and said he was hungry. They produced two rice balls and some water, which was the first food that the boy that was abandoned in the woods had eaten in nearly a week.

“I’m hungry!”

When the police spoke to the child, he explained that he found the building the evening that he was abandoned in the woods by his parents. Until recently, this building was a rest station for hikers and travelers in this remote natural area.

So how did Yamato survive for a week? The building was not heated, and the evening temperature outside was only 45F. As he was only wearing light clothing, he slept between two mattresses of the futon to stay warm. While there was no food in this abandoned shelter, there was a working water tap outside of the building. Here, the youngster went out and drank water. Pretty inventive for a 7-year-old who was probably too young to be in any sort of scouting program!

Thankfully, the child only had a bit of dehydration and a few minor scratches. He is to remain in the hospital for further observation, as he did stay out, abandoned in the woods, for nearly a week. There is always a possibility that this event has traumatized him, although there did not appear to be any unusual signs.

The drama happened just six days ago, when the boy was abandoned at the side of a mountain road as punishment for throwing stones at cars. The area where he was abandoned is a remote area in northern Japan, on the island of Hokkaido. The woods he was abandoned in are called Nanae, home to over 300 dangerous brown bears. According to his parents, they, along with the boy’s older sister, abandoned the boy on the road, then drove off. They claimed that they returned less than a quarter of an hour later, but the youngster was nowhere to be found. They delayed contacting authorities because this meant that they would have to reveal the horror of what they had actually done.

When they first spoke to the authorities to report the child was missing, the parents lied and said that they were out foraging for wild vegetables. After some time, the police realized that their story did not ring true. Finally, the parents confessed to the horrible thing that they had done. They punished their 7-year-old son for throwing rocks by abandoning him in the dangerous forest.

Takayuki Tanooka, the boy’s father, said that he was afraid to admit to the authorities what he had done.

“I thought it might be taken as a domestic violence.”

For nearly a week, hundreds of police and rescuers searched for the child. Authorities continued to search, even after three days, which is the most authorities said that the boy could survive.

After the miracle that his young boy was found safe with only a few small scratches, the father, who was close to tears when speaking to the media, admits that he has experienced a great deal of regret in doling out this harsh and dangerous punishment.

“I told my son that I am sorry that I made him go through a very hard situation. He nodded to me. I have been raising him with lots of love. I would like to pour a lot more love over him from now on, and watch him growing up.”

This story has sparked a great debate in Japan and the rest of the world. Some parents could understand what led to this poor decision by the parents, while others are furious and believe the parents should be charged.

Do you think the parents should be required to go through counseling or perhaps even pay for this very expensive, multi-day search? Do you think that the punishment was justified?

[Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images]

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