Boy abandoned in forest by parents as punishment found six days later
Japanese authorities say they have found Yamato Tanooka, the 7-year-old boy who was abandoned in a Hokkaido forest by his parents on Saturday as punishment for bad behavior.
The Japan Times reports the boy was found Friday morning at a military facility in Shikabe, Hokkaido six days after his parents left him the forest. The BBC, citing NHK, reports the boy identified himself to military personnel as the missing boy. He was reported to be in good health, despite suffering some dehydration and minor scratches on his arms and feet.
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It was reported that Yamato had been in the drill area for several days after walking alone in the forest. The drill area where he was found was about five kilometres from where he disappeared.
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NHK TV said his parents identified their son, who was taken to a hospital by helicopter for checkups.
In a statement given to the press outside of the hospital where Yamato was taken, his father apologized and vowed to do a better job of raising his child.
"We have raised him with love all along," said, Takayuki Tanooka.
"I really didn't think it would come to that. We went too far," he added, "I thought we were doing it for my son's own good."
Yamato went missing in a Hokkaido forest in northern Japan on Saturday evening after his parents forced him out of the car and drove off because he was misbehaving.
According to the Japan Times, Yamato's parents initially told police that Yamato had gotten lost while the family was picking wild vegetables but later recanted and admitted to leaving him behind as punishment for throwing rocks at people and cars.
A search party of 200 people, which included police, firefighters, volunteers and members of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, had been searching the wooded, mountainous area where the boy had gone missing.
UPDATE: June 3, 2016, 11:11 a.m. SGT with Yamato's whereabouts when he was missing.
UPDATE: June 3, 2016, 2:08 p.m. SGT Yamato's condition and his father's statement.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
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Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
