James "Weston" Higginbotham, a 20-year-old Auburn University engineering student, was found dead Saturday in a mountainous area outside Kyoto, his mother Nancy Higginbotham wrote on Facebook.
His body was located by a volunteer search-and-rescue group, and a cause of death or further details were not immediately available.
He was last seen on May 29 leaving a train station in Kyoto; his parents and brother had been visiting Japan and the family said he stayed behind while they visited a nearby temple and they believed he was headed to a nearby hiking trail.
Search efforts in Japan involved more than 100 police officers and used dogs and helicopters, the family said, and the family had recently hired a professional rescue crew after Japanese authorities said they were suspending search efforts.
Nancy Higginbotham wrote, "The grief we feel is impossible to put into words." She added, "We are forever grateful for the time we had with our sweet, precious Weston, but cannot begin to understand what life without him will be like. We now ask for privacy as we begin to navigate this unimaginable loss."
The parents also launched their own search efforts after he disappeared.