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Episode details

Radio 2,2 mins

Abandoned boy found after going missing for seven days

Jeremy Vine

Available for over a year

Seven-year-old Yamoto Tanooka’s parents left him by the side of the road in the remote forests of Hokkaido as punishment for throwing stones at cars and passers-by. When they went back to look for him he was gone, prompting a huge search involving hundreds of police officers, civilian volunteers and the Japanese Army. BBC News correspondent Mariko Oi explains how he managed to survive alone in the forest and the reaction to the parents in Japan.

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