A 4-year-old boy was found safe in a forest in central Japan on Monday, 45 hours after going missing.

The police initially announced that Renki Fukumi had scratches on his face but seemed to have sustained no major injuries, but the hospital where he was subsequently treated said later in the day that he actually suffered a fractured skull, although not life-threatening.

According to the police in Shizuoka Prefecture, Renki went missing around noon on Saturday while playing with other children at a resort house in Ito. The boy from Tokyo was visiting with his family and the family of a friend of his mother's.

On Sunday, the police, who had since been searching for the boy, found the shoes Renki had been wearing at a location about 100 meters from the house, and continued the search.

On Monday, Renki was found sitting near a river in a forest, with mud all over his face.

His father, 33-year-old hairdresser Yu Fukumi, said that when a police officer brought Renki to him, he said, "Renki, it's daddy," and his son nodded and ate some chocolate and drank a sports drink.

In June 2016, a 7-year-old Japanese boy made headlines around the world when he was found safe after spending six days alone in a forest in Hokkaido, northern Japan. The boy had gone missing after his parents left him alone on a forest path as a punishment for misconduct.