{"id":216464,"date":"2025-12-29T15:18:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/216464\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T15:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:18:08","slug":"japanese-town-reeling-from-year-of-record-bear-encounters-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/216464\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese town reeling from year of record bear encounters | Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

It came as no surprise, least of all to the residents of Osaki, that \u201cbear\u201d was selected as Japan\u2019s kanji character of the year<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n

The north-eastern town of 128,000 people is best known for its Naruko Onsen hot springs, autumn foliage and kokeshi \u2013 cylindrical dolls carved from a single piece of wood. But this year it has made the headlines as a bear hotspot, as the country reels from a year of record ursine encounters and deaths, with warnings that winter will not bring immediate respite.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year has been particularly bad,\u201d says Kazuhide Otomo, an official in the town\u2019s rural environment development division. \u201cThere have always been bears in this region, so people got used to them. But this year is different \u2026 it\u2019s the biggest topic of conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Naruko Onsen, groups of hikers equipped with suzu bells and repellent spray head into the forest to catch the last of the autumn colours, while posters at the local tourism office warn visitors in multiple languages how to protect themselves.<\/p>\n

\"BellsBells and whistles: how our reporter prepared for visiting bear hotspot \u2013 video<\/p>\n

Tourist numbers are lower than in a typical year, while local ryokan inns say guests are cancelling their reservations.<\/p>\n

Satoru Onoma, who runs a coffee shop, admits he is experiencing bear fatigue after months of intense media coverage. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to ignore the bear problem because it\u2019s been all over the news,\u201d he said, adding that he had not encountered the animals during his rare trips outside. \u201cBut I\u2019ve heard plenty of stories about people spotting bears in the mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osaki authorities have reported 400 sightings so far this year, compared with fewer than 100 in 2024. In one incident, a woman in her 70s suffered serious injuries to her face when she was attacked outside her home after picking vegetables. In another, residents saw a bear grab and run off with their dog.<\/p>\n

Similar encounters have been reported in regions across Japan<\/a>, with the northernmost prefectures at the centre of an unprecedented wave<\/a> of attacks.<\/p>\n

Map showing the location of Osaki, a Japanese town which is best known for its Naruko Onsen hot springs and autumn foliage.<\/a>Osaki is best known for its Naruko Onsen hot springs and autumn foliage.<\/p>\n

A record 13 people died in suspected bear maulings nationwide between April and November, according to the environment ministry, while the number of attacks stood at 197 \u2013 another high.<\/p>\n

Experts say hungry bears are venturing into residential and built-up areas in search of food after poor crops of acorns and beechnuts in their natural habitat.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s bear population is growing, with one estimate putting the number of Asian black bears at 44,000 \u2013 compared with 15,000 estimated in 2012, although the species is identified as \u201cvulnerable\u201d on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature\u2019s \u201cred list\u201d of threatened species. That figure does not include Hokkaido, thought to be home to about 12,000 Ussuri brown bears, whose population has more than doubled since 1990.<\/p>\n

Sightings have been reported on the western tip of the main island of Honshu, fuelling concern that the animals could appear on Kyushu \u2013 where they were previously thought to be extinct \u2013 which lies 650 metres away across the Kanmon Straits.<\/p>\n

The colder weather would once have eased fears, as the animals, fattened up on beechnuts and acorns, disappeared to hibernate until the spring. But their increasingly desperate search for food<\/a> is forcing them to delay hibernation.<\/p>\n

The problem is compounded by a shortage of licensed hunters \u2013 many of whom are ageing and have little or no experience of killing bears \u2013 and the disappearance of natural satoyama borders that separate forests from villages in ageing farming communities.<\/p>\n

A poster outside the tourist office in Naruko Onsen advises hikers on how to avoid encounters with bears, and what to do if they come across one of the animals. Photograph: Justin McCurry\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

As a result, northern prefectures are experiencing a surge in bear sightings even in December and January.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month an 80-year-old man \u2013 a member of a local hunting club \u2013 was found dead near a trapped bear on a mountain, according to police. Another man in his 70s was attacked as he cleared snow from in front of his home.<\/p>\n

Toshio Mizoguchi, an expert on bear countermeasures, told broadcaster NHK that between 2019 and 2023 the number of reported sightings in the region in December stood at between 30 to 50. That soared to 284 the following year, and has stayed consistent at 271 sightings so far this year \u2013 a phenomenon Mizoguchi attributed to prolonged searches for persimmons<\/a> as the animals load up on nutrients before hibernating.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow black bears have begun invading even Japan\u2019s urban spaces,\u201d Maki Yamamoto, an associate professor at Nagaoka University of Technology who specialises in wildlife management, wrote on the Nippon.com<\/a> website this month. \u201cWe must begin to approach wildlife management as a national policy issue rather than an isolated problem confined to remote mountain communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities in Osaki declared a state of emergency they initially expected to lift at the end of November. The measures, though, will stay in place until the end of the year, as sightings continue. Residents are advised not to go out early in the morning or late at night \u2013 when they are more likely to encounter bears \u2013 and to strip their trees of persimmons and other fruit that are becoming part of the animals\u2019 changing diet.<\/p>\n

\u201cBears are clever animals,\u201d Otomo said. \u201cIf they find something good to eat, like a sweet persimmon, in a particular place they remember and keep going back for more. In the past, bears would often run away when they saw humans, but they are becoming accustomed to people and no longer see them as dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public anxiety prompted the governor of Akita prefecture \u2013 where most sightings have been reported \u2013 to call in the self-defence forces<\/a> to trap and dispose of bears, although they are not permitted to shoot them.<\/p>\n

Traditional kokeshi dolls outside the railway station at Naruko Onsen in northern Japan. The dolls, carved from a single piece of wood, are popular souvenirs for visitors to Japanese onsen resorts. Photograph: Justin McCurry\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The prefecture\u2019s governor, Kenta Suzuki, said he had taken the unprecedented step after four people were killed and 62 others injured in attacks. \u201cOne of the characteristics of this year is that these incidents are taking place in urban areas,\u201d he said, adding that the prefecture had culled more than 2,000 bears this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hearing about people opening their front doors to find a bear on their doorstep, or roaming in their garden,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fact that this is happening near people\u2019s homes is causing high levels of fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been criticised for our decision to cull a large number of bears, but we\u2019re not doing this because we want to \u2026 it\u2019s because of the damage they are causing in urban areas and to agriculture. It\u2019s unavoidable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Osaki, residents hope 2026 could bring relief, since poor beechnut harvests appear to occur in two-year cycles \u2013 a phenomenon some scientists have attributed to the climate crisis<\/a> and intense summer heat. If the pattern persists, there should be plenty of food, and far fewer hungry bears roaming towns and villages next year.<\/p>\n

But it also means that the following year could see a return to more frequent sightings, injuries and deaths.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about striking a balance between protecting residents and preserving bears\u2019 natural habitats,\u201d Otomo said. \u201cWe have to make sure there is a clear division between the bear and human populations. But as long as bears continue to lose their fear of people, the problem won\u2019t go away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It came as no surprise, least of all to the residents of Osaki, that \u201cbear\u201d was selected as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[61,60,82,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-216464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}