The body of a 10-year-old boy who went missing after leaving a classroom at an elementary school in Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Tuesday, was found at a waterfall on Wednesday morning, police said.
Police said he was taken to hospital where he was confirmed dead.
About 200 firefighters and police had been searching for the boy since Tuesday afternoon, TV Asahi reported. The body was found shortly after 11 a.m. at Junigataki Falls, located approximately 1.5 kilometers from Ishikawa Prefectural Komatsu Special Needs School, which the boy attended.
School officials said the boy left the classroom at around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, after saying he wanted to use the toilet, but he did not return.
Teachers searched the school buildings and grounds but could not find him, so they notified police and the boy’s family.
A search by police and fire department members found the boy’s school shoes between rice paddies near the school. His outdoor shoes remained at the school.
According to the fire department, a police dog detected a human scent near Junigataki Falls. Additionally, security camera footage from a road leading from the school toward the waterfall showed a child matching his description and clothes running in that shortly after 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
The boy had a mild intellectual disability.
© Japan Today
6 Comments
Login to comment
tamanegi
I'm very sad to learn of this young boy's passing. My condolences to his family, friends and teachers. RIP.
Sapporo
This seems very strange. In Japan, leaving a school often requires going through a locked door, so why did it take the school so long to realize he was missing and report it?
falseflagsteve
What a sad story, poor little chap. RIP.
Alongfortheride
Did you not climb fences as a child? A locked door will not keep someone in the school grounds if they want out.
quercetum
What happens when a child who needs closer supervision — for any reason — is in a school system that cannot provide it?
Advocates of full inclusion insist that every child belongs in the same classroom, and they’re right in principle. Inclusion can be transformative when schools have the staff, training, and time to make it real.
But Japan often delivers inclusion the way it delivers work‑style reform: as a slogan first and a budget line never. Teachers are expected to be specialists in everything, and when they fail, the country pretends it’s an individual tragedy rather than a structural one.
Japan might need to confront an uncomfortable truth: a system that treats every child the same ends up failing the ones who need something different.
WiseOneIn Kansai
Ignore the CCP troll!! Constant whining about Japan!
Why don't you give us some expert advice about the regular knife attacks in the Middle Kingdom?