A group of seven people who went missing overnight Sunday on a mountain in Akita Prefecture were found safe Monday, police said.
The four men and three women, aged 48 to 65, went missing on 1,454-meter-high Mount Moriyoshi in Kita-akita on Sunday evening when the group, led by Yukio Kobayashi, did not show up at the inn where they planned to stay.
Police mobilized some 20 officers and the local government dispatched a helicopter to help in the search after they received a call from the inn, they said, adding they found two vehicles with license plates issued in Ibaraki parked near a trail head.