Bear activity in Japan

Early July saw a bear trapped near Nagano be shot by a hunter, inadvertently wounding another club member, after which the animal was killed. The same week, a bear damaged a soybean field in Hokkaido, prompting police warnings but no further sightings.

By late July, reports indicated a broader surge in brown‑bear activity across western and northern Japan. A photographer captured a bear strolling along a road near Kigo Mountain in Kanazawa, marking the fifth encounter for the observer and contributing to 165 sightings in Ishikawa that year, including an attack on an elderly man. Simultaneously, a bear was seen in a rice field near Akita’s Hinni Support School. Authorities continued to urge residents to remain vigilant as bears increasingly appear near roads, farms and settlements.

Later in July, a 70‑year‑old photographer recorded a 1.5 m brown bear walking near Kigo Mountain, confirming the ongoing pattern of frequent sightings and citing a recent attack on an 80‑year‑old man in Komatsu. That same day a 60‑year‑old woman in Akita’s Kazuno City spotted a bear in a rice field close to the Hinni Support School, prompting renewed police alerts. On July 27, a young bear crossed a prefectural road near the Nakano tea house in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi; officials used fireworks to disperse it after earlier June and early‑July reports. A separate bear was observed in a residential forest behind a house in Akita City, with police patrols and warnings issued. No injuries were reported in either case, but officials maintain heightened safety advisories across the affected prefectures.