Japanese boy left in woods, found alive six days later

Tokyo

Seven-year-old Yamato Tanooka was discovered in a building on a Japanese military base around 4 km from where he disappeared last Saturday after his parents left him by the side of a road, reportedly as discipline for throwing stones at cars. “One of our soldiers was preparing for drills this morning and opened the door of a building on the base, and there he was,” a member of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces told NHK national television. “When he asked ‘are you Yamato?’ the boy said yes. Then he said he was hungry, so the soldier gave him some water, bread and rice balls.”

Yamato was taken to hospital for checks but was healthy except for low body temperature, a doctor said. Takayuki Tanooka, the boy’s father, thanked rescuers for  their efforts and apologised. “We’ve reflected on what we did and it was really excessive,” Tanooka said. “I hope to give him even more attention now,” he said.

The boy somehow managed to survive for nearly a week in the densely forested area, where night temperatures fell as low as 7 degrees Celsius and heavy rain had fallen, despite wearing only a t-shirt and jeans. Yamato said he had “walked through the mountains” until he found the building, which was unlocked. He drank water from a nearby faucet and slept on mattresses spread on the floor.