To think that something does not seem right with the parents' story of the boy missing in Japan

[awfullyproper]

The story as theyve told is horrendous, but they've already lied once. Did they really just go for 5 minutes? How come he didn't run after them?

8oK

I think you are right it is a cultural thing.

Gosh, some posters love to imagine the worst. Perhaps it's a bit of a boring idea but perhaps the parents did just leave the boy for a very short while to scare him for throwing stones and he ran off. Not the best bit of parenting but hardly abusive.

I love how some posters think they can 'read' more into a story than the details given. I hope the posters who were assuming the parents had killed the boy feel a bit

It's a bit like the lad who fell into the gorilla pit. Again, it's a major parenting fail but it's not like they threw him there.

It sounds like we have a kid with substantial behavioral problems and parents who are impulsive and disorganized but not evil or abusive. I am guessing that, having been ground down by a lot of shitty behavior by the kid, something snapped and they chose to do something really stupid.

I hope that child welfare services will be sitting down with the family and working out some of the many issues that are going on here.

Definitely something weird with this.

He was found just three miles away? Surely they would have searched the disused army barracks already?

I have been in Japan for about 10 years and have kids here. A positive read on what happened is this. 1 the father loves his kid. Why? because is actually spending time with him on the weekend in the park and not off doing something else which some fathers are like here. 2 A lot of parents threaten the ' i will leave you up a mountain for the ogres to get you.' This is very common and if i did a poll of my kids friends most of them would have had this said to them at some point. 3 He was trying to discipline his child for throwing rocks at cars. Again if he didn t love his kid then he would just let him get on and throw shit. 4 I guess the kid could here the helicopters and sirens and still hid. BEFORE you all lay in to me I do NOT agree with what he did and would not do what he did BUT the parenting here is different. stuff that would be considered getting the social services in the UK is kind of accepted. saying all that he is an idiot for not knowing his son. I also feel a bit positive that he is taking the blame and no one is blaming the mother which is the nor mal media reaction in the uk. I think she was also in the car. Again this is a positive spin, back to the darkside :)

I also think cultural parenting differences. My friend is French, but lives in the UK, she talks of friends punishing their young children by forcing them to stand under cold showers, or being locked out in rainstorms etc. Apparently this is OK?! And I won't even go into some of the American parenting stuff that appears on my Facebook.