A news story from “news every.” that caught our attention: “Bear eats donuts in refrigerator, breaks into Japanese confectionery workshop, is it another bear on this day?” (From “news every.” broadcast on July 13, 2026)
July 12, 2026 marked one year since a newspaper delivery man was killed in a bear attack in Fukushima Town, southern Hokkaido. While efforts to prevent such tragedies continue, the man’s mother shared her current feelings. “He was a kind boy. I’m truly all alone now.” (Mother of the deceased man) A woman in her 70s living in Fukushima Town. On July 12, 2025, her son, then 52 years old, was attacked by a bear while delivering newspapers. The man was dragged about 100 meters and later found dead in a bush. The man had encountered bears multiple times before this incident. “He was a boy with a strong sense of justice who never took time off work. He was a kind boy.”
(Mother) UHB requested information disclosure from Hokkaido regarding documents summarizing the response to this bear. What was written there was the extremely dangerous behavior of this bear. “It is possible that the bear actively attacked the victim with the intention of preying on him.” “The bear carried the victim away and secured him by covering him with grass in a secluded location.”
After the incident, an electric fence was installed along the border between the mountains and residential areas for about 5 kilometers. In addition, residents are being asked to put out their garbage on the day of collection. “They say the bears are attracted by the smell (of the garbage), so everyone is following the rules,” says a Fukushima town resident.
This man says he keeps his dog inside his house to protect it from bear attacks. “You never know where it might come from. Bears are living creatures, after all,” says a Fukushima town resident. Experts who investigated the bear in this case say that people need to change their awareness of how they live. “It’s important to live with full awareness that there might be bears around. We need to be more conscious than ever of managing everyday garbage and other things that might attract bears,” says Hifumi Tsuruga of the Hokkaido Research Organization. Thanks to these measures, since April 2026, the number of bear sightings in the town has decreased significantly to just 3 compared to 2025. Furthermore, there have been zero sightings in residential areas.
On July 10, the town conducted its first “emergency hunting” drill, which allows the local government to cull bears that appear in urban areas at its discretion. “It’s a little sad to look back on it. We never want to let such a tragic accident happen again. We are working hard to prevent any more incidents,” says Shiro Michishita, head of the Matsumae branch of the Hokkaido Hunting Association. In addition, the three parties—the neighboring town of Matsumae, the local hunting association, and Fukushima Town—have signed a cooperation agreement to prevent recurrence. Fukushima Town has only one hunter capable of culling bears, and a shortage of personnel has been a challenge. This agreement will allow hunters from Matsumae Town to immediately carry out extermination activities if bears appear in the urban areas of Fukushima Town. “We carried this out with a strong determination to never repeat the same mistake,” said Kiyoharu Narumi, Mayor of Fukushima Town. The mother of the man who died in the bear attack said, “I hope that the incident will not be repeated.” “I hope that no one ends up like my son,” said the mother of the deceased man.
