Three Singaporeans on a mission to find a karate legend are found huddled together inside an abandoned car on a north Japanese mountainside.

Local media reports say one of the boys told Hirosaki police his dying father had told his group to search for the master. Thirteen people set out from Singapore but one group was lost on the slopes of Mount Iwaki.

The 13 split into three groups, with another four resting at a hotel. The three men who were lost phoned for help using a mobile phone.

One member of the group told TV Asahi, "Japan looked so small on the map that we thought we would find him straight away."

Police say they were wearing only light clothing on the mountain, which is 5,249 feet high.