Japan is experiencing an unprecedented bear problem. According to the nation’s Ministry of the Environment, the furry predators are confirmed to have killed seven people since March—the highest number on record since the government first started monitoring deaths in 2006. Given the country’s ongoing ecological and demographic issues, however, it may be more accurate to say that the bears are facing an unprecedented human problem.
Conservationists explained to the AFP that there are multiple factors contributing to the multiplying encounters between the wild animals and humans. Many of the island nation’s bears rely on acorns as a staple in their omnivorous diets. With the total number of acorns dwindling due to climate change, bears are roaming closer to towns in search of food. Warmer weather is also disrupting the animals’ normal hibernation patterns, further complicating the situation.
Japanese officials noted that one of the recent fatalities included a man killed while picking mushrooms in a forest in northern Honshu’s Iwate Prefecture. The animals are also venturing into some of the country’s most populated areas. Earlier in October, a 4.5-foot-tall adult bear wandered into a supermarket north of Tokyo. While no fatalities were reported, two men were left with light injuries, as the hungry bear scoured the store for food. Speaking with the AFP, a grocery store executive confirmed the bear damaged a fish container before it, “knocked over a pile of avocados and trod on them.” Between 30 to 40 customers were in the store at the time as the bear, “became agitated as it struggled to find the exit.”
The two shoppers are far from the only recent victims.Bears have bitten or clawed over 100 people over the past year. That’s slightly higher than 2024’s numbers, but less than half the number of injuries reported in 2023.
Many of the encounters have involved older residents, also highlighting Japan’s aging demographics. And while the islands’ bear populations have been curbed in the past during hunting seasons, the number of hunters is also continuing to dwindle.
Japan is home to two native bear species—the Asian black bear or moon bear (Ursus thibetanus), and the brown bear (Ursus arctos). While the two are proportionally similar, the brown bear is generally larger and heavier. A brown bear can easily weigh 1,100 lbs while measuring nine feet from head-to-tail, and is known to outrun humans. According to the Ministry of the Environment’s own brown bear safety tips, people are recommended to “curl your body up on the ground and protect your head and neck with both arms,” if attacked.
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