Five days have passed since 7 year old Yamato Tanooka
went missing early last Saturday evening. His parents abandoned him in the forested region of Hokkaido, the Northern most main island of Japan. Last seen wearing at-shirt and jeans, the boy was reportedly left
with no food or water. TV networks are running frequent updates at the scene, whilst outrage has been sparked on social media, with the public heavily criticising the behaviour of the boy's parents.
Image sourced from The Guardian website
180 police officers and firefighters are searching the bear-inhabited mountain forest. Concerns were raised for the child's well-being yesterday as fresh bear faeces were found in the local area by search teams, prompting two hunters to join the search.
Parents told reporters that Yamoto went missing whilst the family were on a day-trip, picking edible plants in forest park. It was revealed later that this was, in fact, an act of discipline. After interviewing the parents, the police quote that the boy was left intentionally as punishment for throwing stones at people and cars earlier that day. He was supposedly ordered out of the car on the way back home, after which his parents continued to drive a further 50 metres away. With the intention to collect him, his father returned to the scene 5 minutes later, but Yamoto was nowhere to be found.
When trying to predict where Yamoto had headed, there was difficulty in predicting which direction he headed in or how far he had already traveled. Local fire department rescuer Satoshi Saito stated "We just have too little information on how the boy would have acted after being left alone". Thick forest flanks both sides of the road and slopes on the North side of Mount Komagatake are at an altitude of 1,131 metres/ 3,710 feet. Saito states that as long as the child had not begun climbing up the peak, a main road should have been reached within 2-3km walking in any other direction.
The boy's Father, Takayuki, 44, stated "I feel very sorry for my son. I am so sorry for causing trouble for so many people."
Nippon TV reports that the search area has been widened by police, with sniffer dogs and horses exploring deeper into thick woodland. The police are considering the possibility of filing neglect charges against Yamoto's parents. Many Japanese social media users are outraged by their intent to discipline the 7 year old child. It is not understood by the public why parents would abandon their own child in a bear - infested and remote forest.
On Sunday night heavy rain and dipping temperatures of 7C / 45F were reported in the area where Yamoto went missing.
Mitsuru Wakayama, spokesman for the local town Nanae, commented "Not many people or cars pass by and it gets totally dark as there are no lights". The area is not frequented - on occasion locals pass through using the mountain area as a shortcut.
Source
newspaper article available online at...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/31/hunt-japanese-boy-yamato-tanooka-forest-punishment-parents-critcised
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