Bear attacks in Japan prompt call for caution in mountains

TOKYO – Since May, Asiatic black bears and brown bears have been making their presence felt across Japan. Many recent incidents of people encountering bears have occurred during trips into the mountains to pick wild edible plants.

With mountaineering season about to begin, municipalities are calling for caution in response to multiple cases of people being killed or injured. In regions where bear populations have declined, efforts are being made to safely coexist with the bears.

In incidents on May 21 and 22, two men were found dead in Akita Prefecture after going into the mountains to pick bamboo shoots. Both deaths are believed to have resulted from Asiatic black bear attacks. Also in May, there were sightings of mother bears with cubs in Iwate, Yamagata, Nagano and other prefectures, as well as reports of injuries due to bear attacks.

Yohei Sasaki, chairman of the national hunters association Dainihon Ryoyukai, based in Tokyo, has hunted in Iwate Prefecture for over 40 years and has had multiple encounters with Asiatic black bears.

He warns, "Mother bears with cubs are particularly wary of humans, and there are times when even hunters find them unmanageable."

Although bears of this species only reach a total length – from nose to tail – of one to 1½ meters, "an ordinary person would be helpless against their attacks," Sasaki said.

The number of bear attacks in Japan varies widely from year to year. Kazuhiko Maita, the chief director of the Institute for Asiatic Black Bear Research and Preservation, said this year's many sightings of mother bears on the move with their cubs are believed to stem from last autumn's unusual bumper crop of beechnuts, which has boosted the nutrition taken in by the mothers.

"From summer to after autumn, people risk being attacked by mature cubs," Maita warned.

The Environment Ministry and local governments are calling for people to take appropriate precautions when entering mountainous areas.

"Bears normally avoid humans, so it's good to make them aware of your presence by using something like a bell," says Junpei Tanaka, 42, from Picchio, a nonprofit organization in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. Picchio's activities include driving away bears.

In contrast, Asiatic black bear populations are low in five regions, including the Kii Peninsula and Shikoku, and in some areas they face the threat of extinction, according to the Environment Ministry's Red Data Book. In particular, the bears' population in the Shikoku region is estimated to be from 10 to several dozen.

WWF Japan and other organizations are conducting more accurate population surveys to help protect Asiatic black bears. In Shimane Prefecture, persimmon farmers are teaming up with local governments and organizations to introduce non-lethal measures, including the installation of bear fences, to keep the bears from eating their fruit.

A WWF Japan staffer in charge of the issue said, "As farmlands in satoyama [rural forests near inhabited areas] are no longer being managed properly due to population decline and aging, encounters with bears that have come from deep in the mountains are becoming more frequent."

"We need to think about how we can coexist so that we do not interfere in each other's domains," he added.