A rice farmer encountered a huge bear while working in the fields. It was a tense minute. Bear attacks continued on the 30th. [TV Asahi NEWS]
According to Kyoto Prefecture, on the 29th, a man in his 40s, a member of a hunting association, encountered a black bear in the mountains of Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City, and was bitten on the right arm, requiring seven stitches. The bear was about 1 meter long. This is the first bear attack on a person in Kyoto Prefecture this fiscal year, but what did the injured man say about the situation at the time…? Also, amid a series of bear attacks nationwide, the Ministry of the Environment will begin a survey using cameras from the 30th to determine the bear population. Cameras and bait will be set up in areas where bears appear, and the patterns on the chests of black bears will be photographed to identify individual bears. The Ministry of the Environment will start the survey in the Tohoku region and plans to install more than 800 cameras throughout the country in the future. ▼MBS NEWS DIG
arly on the morning of the 30th, a man in his 70s was attacked and injured by a bear near an elementary school in Tochigi Prefecture. In addition, a bullet train in Akita Prefecture was brought to an emergency stop after colliding with a bear, and bear-related incidents are occurring one after another across the country. With July approaching and the heat becoming more intense, bear attacks are rapidly increasing throughout Japan. Shortly after 5 a.m. on the 30th, a man in his 70s who was working in a field in Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture, was attacked by a bear and injured in the face, and was taken to the hospital. The scene was near a school, and there have been many bear sightings since the beginning of June. A local resident said he had seen a bear twice in June alone. Local resident: “I looked up and saw a bear walking towards me, and it ran away into the grass around it.
That was on the 16th. On the 27th, there is a garbage collection net, and there was a bear about 5 meters below the basket.” The city is working with the hunting association and the police to keep the area vigilant, but the bear has not yet been found. Meanwhile, in Kyoto City, a man in his 40s who was part of a hunting association was attacked by a bear on the 29th while hunting deer and other animals. He was bitten on the arm and required seven stitches. Children were also in danger. Shortly after 11 a.m. on the 29th, a bear appeared at an elementary school in Inawashiro Town, Fukushima Prefecture. The children evacuated to the school building and fortunately were unharmed. The bear’s whereabouts are unknown, and the school was busy taking measures to ensure safety, such as asking parents to pick up and drop off their children. Parent: “I was a little surprised. I didn’t think it would appear around here.” Amidst all this, Akita Prefecture has seen a recent surge in bear sightings. In the last three days, approximately 80 reports have been received, with more than 20 concentrated in the urban area around Akita City, where residential areas are widespread.
Footage of a bear that appeared around 2 p.m. on the 28th at the grounds of a sports park in the city center shows it confidently walking down the middle of the grounds, surrounded by houses. The frequent sightings in a short period of time suggest that multiple bears may be moving around. A resident who saw a bear said: “There was a man walking his dog, and the bear was startled and came back. It went from the playground of the neighboring nursery school towards the mountains. It was nearby, so it was scary.” The situation is becoming increasingly serious, as evidenced by the collision between an Akita Shinkansen train and a bear early on the morning of the 30th. Why are sightings suddenly increasing? Experts point to the dangers of bears in the summer, which are unique to this time of year.
Associate Professor Takayoshi Yamauchi of Iwate University said: “They are currently eating wild vegetables, but that will soon come to an end. This coincides with their breeding season, as they are diligently searching for food. It is also the time when cubs leave their mothers and become independent. They may suddenly appear in urban areas. This makes it easier for people to be harmed than usual. Food in the mountains will become even scarcer towards August, and there is a risk that sightings of bears in populated areas will increase.” Amidst these circumstances, the Ministry of the Environment will begin a bear population survey on the 30th, installing cameras mainly in the mountains of the Tohoku region.
Official: There is bait inside, and the scent of the bait comes out from here. Bears are photographed in this state as they sniff the bait. The white markings on the chests of Asiatic black bears differ from bear to bear. They say that by luring bears with a strong-smelling bait made by mixing honey and wine, and photographing the markings on their chests, they can estimate the number of bears. The survey will cover six habitats, with cameras installed in more than 800 locations, and will continue until the end of September, with the results expected to be published sometime in fiscal year 2026. In Okoppe Town, Hokkaido, where brown bears live, behaviors unique to the breeding season were observed. On the night of the 27th, a camera captured a male bear rubbing its back against a female bear, a behavior mainly used to attract her attention. Moreover, it was large enough to easily exceed the height of the tape wrapped around it, which was 2 meters high. As July begins tomorrow and the heat intensifies, vigilance against “summer bears” is more important than ever. FNN Prime Online
Five years have passed since a brown bear appeared in a residential area of Higashi Ward, Sapporo, injuring four people. One of the male victims is still suffering from lingering effects. What is needed to prevent serious accidents like this from happening again? (Broadcast on June 18, 2026, Sapporo Television
