Japan on High Alert for Bears as Autumn Foliage Season Begins

Tokyo, Oct. 26 (Jiji Press)–Administrative authorities in Japan are calling for exercising a high level of caution against bears as the autumn foliage season is starting in earnest. The number of deaths from bear attacks in the country in fiscal 2025, which started in April, stood at nine as of Wednesday, the highest annual figure since data became available in fiscal 2006. More than 100 people have been killed or injured so far in the current fiscal year. Bears have been frequently spotted in the Tohoku northeastern region and other areas. The situation may worsen due to a poor harvest of beech nuts, a primary food for bears, and because the animals become active ahead of hibernation. In Iwate Prefecture in Tohoku, more than 30 people have been killed or injured since April. In July, the Iwate prefectural government raised its bear advisory for the whole of the prefecture to a warning, in the wake of this fiscal year’s first death from a bear attack in the prefecture. “We have been unable to take effective measures” against bears, a prefectural official said, adding, “We have no choice but to keep calling for attention on social media and through other channels.” In Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, which has many tall mountains and attracts a number of climbers, 15 people had been killed or injured as of Oct. 17. With bear sightings on the rise, a warning has been issued in some areas in the prefecture. A Nagano prefectural official said, “We are urging hikers to carry a radio or other sound-emitting devices and not to go on climbing in the morning and evening when bears are active.” Bears have been spotted also in human habitats. In Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, part of Tohoku, bear sightings in fiscal 2025 have topped 440, already surpassing the annual record high of 431 marked in fiscal 2020. On Oct. 15, a bear that appeared near a residential area in the city’s Taihaku Ward was shot dead under a new emergency system in which shooting of bears and wild boars in residential or other inhabited areas is allowed based on decisions by local governments. A Sendai city official warned people to stay away from areas, even in urban districts, where bears have been frequently spotted. “The number of bears is increasing in the Tohoku and Chubu (central) regions,” Mayumi Yokoyama, a professor of wildlife management at University of Hyogo in western Japan, said. Noting that bears are competing for food in the mountains, Yokoyama warned, “The situation is dangerous because bears could attack aggressively if they encounter humans.” She advises people to carry bear repellent spray or other items useful for fending off bears, and to travel in groups when hiking or picking wild vegetables. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]