Tokyo, Jan. 14 (Jiji Press)–Bears continue to be spotted near people in Japan after the turn of the year, even though they are usually in hibernation at this time of the winter season. A slew of sightings, mainly in the Tohoku northeastern region, includes reports of collisions with vehicles and damage to property such as the glass pane of an office window. There were 47,038 Asian black bear sightings nationwide from April to November last year, about double the previous annual record high marked in fiscal 2023, according to the Environment Ministry. The number of captured bears, including brown bears in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, reached a record high of 12,659 in the same eight-month period. Although bears are thought to be hibernating at this time of year, sightings have been reported in Hokkaido, the six Tohoku prefectures and the central prefecture of Niigata since New Year’s Day, according to police. In Akkeshi, a town in Hokkaido, a footprint believed to be that of a bear was found around 2 p.m. on Jan. 1. In the Hokkaido city of Tomakomai, a local police station conducted surveillance activities after a sighting was reported on Jan. 4. Sightings are particularly common in Tohoku. At around 5:35 p.m. on Jan. 4, a car driven by a man in his 50s collided with a bear roughly 1 meter tall that was crossing a road in Sukagawa, a city in Fukushima Prefecture. The man was not injured. “We are working to strengthen the dissemination of information to prevent human casualties,” a Fukushima prefectural police department official said. “We want people to continue to be on alert for bears.” There have also been cases of bears approaching people. In Daisen, a city in Akita Prefecture, also in Tohoku, a man in his 40s shoveling snow near his company saw a bear about 1 meter tall moving away at around 8 a.m. on Jan. 4. The man checked where the bear had been and found broken glass in the foyer of the company office entrance. Bear sightings after the turn of the year are believed to reflect poor crops of acorns. “Many bears don’t appear to reach hibernation due to a lack of food,” said Atsushi Horie, 78, head of a hunters’ association in Hokkaido. “If bears go into hibernation without eating enough food, that may cause them to wake earlier than they should,” he said. Horie advised people to stay away from mountains where bears are likely to appear, based on sighting reports from local governments. “Bears are very cautious,” he said. “If you need to go into the mountains, you should do so in large groups and proceed while speaking loudly. Bears will often flee out of caution.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Bear Sightings in Japan Continue into 2026
