Following the end of the hibernation period in late March, there have been more sightings of bears than usual in Japan, and the first April fatality for five years.
Fatal Bear Incident in April
Bears in Japan emerge from hibernation from around the end of March and begin to actively roam around in search of food. This year has again seen an increase in sightings of bears, as well as a rise in injuries.
On April 21, a police officer in his fifties who was searching for a missing person was attacked and injured by an Asian black bear in Shiwa, Iwate. Nearby, the body of an adult woman who had been attacked by a bear was also found. According to statistics from the Ministry of the Environment, this is the first bear-related fatality recorded in April since 2021.
There have also been a number of injuries caused by bear attacks. On April 29, in a residential area of the city of Toyama, a woman in her forties was attacked by a bear while walking and suffered scratches to her face, neck, and head as a result.
On April 26, five members of the local hunting association in Shimamaki, on the west coast of Hokkaidō, were conducting their spring population-control hunt targeting brown bears that had just come out of hibernation. The hunters fired at a brown bear above them on a mountain slope. After the roughly two-meter-long bear was hit, it tumbled down the slope and attacked a male hunter in his sixties. It took another six or seven bullets to kill the bear, but by that time the man had suffered injuries to his head and other areas of his body. One of the other hunters said that he had “never seen a bear that was so tenacious.”
Preliminary figures from the Ministry of the Environment show that in fiscal 2025, there were 216 incidents in which people were injured by encounters with bears, affecting 238 people and resulting in 13 deaths. This is the highest level of incidents over the past decade. Reported bear sightings also rose to 50,359 cases in fiscal 2025, far exceeding the 24,348 and 20,513 sightings, respectively, in fiscal 2023 and 2024.
Early Warnings Issued
Prefectures across the Tōhoku region are strengthening their warnings. Akita issued an Asian black bear advisory on April 10, and then upgraded it to a full alert on April 14. Alerts regarding bear sightings have also been issued in Fukushima, Aomori, Miyagi, and Iwate Prefectures. Frequent sightings this year have prompted warnings to be issued earlier than usual.
Reports of bears entering urban areas and residential neighborhoods are also increasing. One factor behind increased bear sightings is the scarcity of fruits and nuts, which are an important food source, but there are also indications that bears are becoming increasingly accustomed to areas populated by human beings. Some have learned ways to find food, such as eating fruit left on unattended trees at vacant homes in depopulated regions.
In a residential neighborhood in Sendai, Asian black bears were repeatedly sighted between April 17 and 19, and one was eventually found and captured in the bushes near an apartment building. Meanwhile, an animal believed to be a brown bear was spotted three times in a residential district of Sapporo from late March into April.
Preventive measures are now needed not only in the mountains but also around residential areas, farmland, school routes, and tourist sites to avoid encounters with bears. The Ministry of the Environment and other government agencies are urging people to check information on bear sightings before hiking or climbing, avoid going alone, and to carry a bear bell, radio, or deterrent spray. In daily life, proper management of food waste and discarded vegetables, locking homes and storage areas, and clearing overgrown vegetation are important measures to keep bears away from human settlements.
A bear bell and deterrent spray. (© Pixta)
Data Sources
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Local authorities are posting more signs warning against bears. © Pixta.)