This week's discovery of an uninjured 2-year-old boy who had been missing for three days on an island in western Japan is being called a miracle, with experts remarking that the hot weather and time elapsed since his disappearance had made a safe return seem unlikely.

Yoshiki Fujimoto was found barefoot and sitting on a mossy stone in the middle of a stream Wednesday by search party volunteer Haruo Obata, who used his past experience as part of another search to find the boy.

Yoshiki was found on a mountain in the town of Suo-Oshima on Yashiro Island in Yamaguchi Prefecture about 68 hours after he had gone missing, just shy of the 72 hours after which the chance of survival is believed to drop considerably.