The soldier who discovered him by chance in a military hut gave him two rice balls, which 7-year-old Yamato Tanooka ate ravenously. The soldier who found him had not been part of the frenzied search effort, but soon the boy identified himself as Yamato Tanooka (Tah-noh-oh-kah). The boy's safe return was welcomed in a nation riveted by his disappearance and undergoing intense soul-searching about how it raises and disciplines its children. Nearly a week after he was abandoned in the forest by his parents, the boy did not shed a tear when he was found safe Friday. Abandonment and child abuse are far more common in Japan than the stereotype of the doting parent and stay-at-home mom would suggest.

Source: Fox News June 03, 2016 06:22 UTC