Northern Japan is grappling with a frightening surge in bear attacks, with locals taking drastic precautions to stay safe. Residents in affected areas have started attaching bells to their bags to ward off bears, while warning signs are now commonplace near homes, schools, and shopping areas.
Since April, bears have killed a record 13 people nationwide—double last year’s toll—with many more injured. Reports of bears entering houses, wandering near schools, and even rampaging through supermarkets have become almost daily occurrences.
“I hear news of attacks almost every day. It’s terrifying and feels personal,” said 28-year-old Kakeru Matsuhashi, a traditional “Matagi” hunter in Akita prefecture, one of the hardest-hit regions.
The victims include a 67-year-old man in Iwate, found dead outside his home with bite marks, and a 60-year-old man believed to have been attacked while cleaning an outdoor bath at a remote hot spring resort. Over 100 people have already been injured in the first six months of the fiscal year.
Experts attribute the spike in attacks to a rapidly growing bear population combined with poor acorn harvests this year, which have left hungry bears venturing closer to human settlements. Japan’s brown bear population has doubled over the past three decades to roughly 12,000, while Asian black bears on Honshu island now number around 42,000.
“The mountains are becoming overcrowded,” warned Naoki Ohnishi of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute. “The bear population has exceeded what the natural habitat can support.”
The government has deployed troops to help trap and hunt bears, and riot police have been authorized to use rifles against particularly aggressive animals, which can weigh up to half a tonne and outrun humans. As Japan struggles with this growing threat, authorities and residents alike are on high alert for what experts warn could be a record-breaking year of bear attacks.
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