A two year-old boy who had been missing since Sunday morning on Oshima island, Yamaguchi Prefecture, was found safe on Wednesday morning.
Police said Yoshiki Fujimoto was found at around 6:50 a.m. in mountain bushes near a mandarin orchard not too far from his great-grandparents’ home, Fuji TV reported. He was found by a searcher calling out his name. Yoshiki was taken to hospital, hungry and tired, but is otherwise in good health, police said.
About 150 police and firefighters had been searching for the boy since he went missing. He was visiting his great-grandparents' home with his extended family for the weekend. On Sunday at around 10:30 a.m., he went with his 3-year-old brother and his 66-year-old grandfather to play at the seashore 400 meters away.
However, when they were about 100 meters away from their house, Yoshiki started complaining about the heat and wanted to go back home. His grandfather sent him back alone and saw him go as far as 80 meters before losing sight of him. The grandfather then continued on to the sand dunes with Yoshiki’s brother.
When Yoshiki failed to return home, his parents looked for him and then contacted police at around 11:30 a.m.
Police did not give any information Wednesday about where Yoshiki, who turned two on Monday, had been since Sunday. The place where the volunteer found him had already been searched on Sunday and Monday.
© Japan Today
42 Comments
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savethegaijin
Oh thank god. What a great end to this story.
GW
Good news for sure!
zones2surf
Awesome news!!
Being obon and all, a really happy ending to what could have been a tragedy.
Grandpa should have known better.... sending a 2 yo to go home by himself.....
DaDude
These stories don't usually end well. I am happy he was found and hopefully a new babysitter is found for this boy in the future.
JohnDigsJapan
Thank goodness!!
Alex Einz
great, I would totally break contact with grandfather though
papigiulio
Wow, that is good news. Family can finally relax.
Concerned Citizen
Absolutely wonderful news! It must be a massive relief for his parents and grandfather after a gut wrenching wait. Thank God.
kohakuebisu
Great news!
I cannot stand those "wide shows" on TV in the morning, but perhaps the commentators on them could tell people to not let a barely two-year-old out of your sight. Let's learn a lesson from this.
(the "home" was grandpa's, not the child's. Which is probably why the child got lost)
CrazyJoe
Thanks to all who helped bring this toddler home.
bruinfan
I am glad that he is safe.
nakanoguy01
A two-year-old survived for 3 days without food, water or shelter? There's gotta be more to this story than meets the eye.
rainyday
Glad this one had a happy ending.
kwatt
Good news. This incident seems very rare, maybe 1 millionth incident, so parents may try not worry much. Many little kids around my area are playing around/in parks or school playground alone everyday without parents' eyes (they may watch kids sometimes at somewhere). kids seem to learn to go to school alone after age of 5.
gogogo
So sad, a little 2 year old out there all alone, he must have been so scared. Thankful he was found!
Goodlucktoyou
My first story on this site. Feel so good.
Chico3
That is such great news! You take care of yourself, young man!
Mocheake
Glad the boy was found safe. He is one tough little guy. I have to say that his grandfather is guilty of severe negligence though. He should have never let a child that young walk back alone. The walk back would have taken them 2-3 minutes tops.
USNinJapan2
Happy for the outcome but the grandfather is an idiot.
Vince Black
What the moronic grandfather did was unforgivable.
Alex Einz
Reckless, this has nothing to do with Izu Oshima ( and there are no sand dunes at Izu Oshima )
GW
Mrs tells me they found him about 20m from home......anybody confirm similar
Trapped
Ha ha... kids!
3RENSHO
Yoshiki was found approximately 550 metres north-east of his Grandfather's house, sitting in dense undergrowth beside a small stream. He had strayed uphill, climbing all the way; searchers concentrated their efforts downhill, as they did not consider it likely the boy would climb the mountain. Mr Obata, the volunteer whom found the lost boy, has mountaineering experience and instintively began searching up the slope.
Disillusioned
Yeah, fantastic news to hear no real harm came to him. However, it's only luck that saved him from serious harm. Hopefully, the grandfather learned an important lesson about poor judgement.
smithinjapan
Take care, people! Kids can disappear pretty quickly. Glad this one was found safe.
Seaman
Incredibly glad he was found. Can't imagine how terrifying it must have been for the 2-year old
Luddite
Yes! Good news for a change.
thepersoniamnow
Very happy to hear a nice ending to this one.
Kaishu
This news has made my day. Didn’t hold much hope for the little fella, especially being around water. Job well done, and hopefully the grandfather has learned a valuable lesson.
GW
3Rensho Educator60, thx for the info!
coskuri
Good news.
bass4funk
Most definitely
starpunk
Very good news for a change. It might not have turned out so well if this was in America, however. Anyway I'm glad this kid is alive and safe again. First news I'm reading here too and it's a great way to start the day. Cheers!
sakurasuki
Glad that boy discovered alive. That boy was discovered by 78-year-old volunteer from Oita and he brought that boy directly to his parent. In TV that volunteer was escorted by an officer and that officer's hand in such gesture as trying to stop that volunteer to run away as like he was a suspect.