Bear Sightings Rise in Northeastern Japan Amid Reports of Attacks and Improved Food Forecasts

A woman's body was found in Iwate prefecture last week, marking one possible fatal mauling in 2026. The discovery came soon after a police officer was injured in a bear attack nearby in the same prefecture. The Guardian reported these incidents amid a broader surge in bear activity across north-eastern Japan.

The pace of bear sightings in Japan is outstripping that seen in 2025, a record year for attacks. Bears have been spotted with frequency in urban areas in the region, according to media reports. Police have been called to populated areas following bear sightings near apartment buildings, a warehouse, and a railway station after winter.

Local authorities in Aomori prefecture issued a special warning about Asiatic black bears on 1 April after five were spotted in 10 days. Iwate and Fukushima prefectures have issued similar alerts about bears, according to the Asahi Shimbun. These measures follow a pattern of increased human-bear encounters in the Tohoku region.

Earlier this month, a dozen police officers in a Fukushima prefecture town pursued a bear in a neighborhood. The bear weighed 100-120kg. It was shot dead beneath an elevated expressway by a licensed hunter after a standoff with police.

' Japan saw 238 bear attacks, including 13 deaths, in the 12 months from April 2025. Most bear attacks occurred in the six prefectures of the Tohoku region. Experts are forecasting better crops of beechnuts in 2026.

Shinsuke Koike, a professor of ecology at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, said, 'Bears that previously ventured into human settlements may have learned that food can be found in places close to people' and that previous encounters may mean bears no longer see humans as a potential threat.