Japan Reports First Bear-Attack Fatality of 2026 as Two Sets of Human Remains Found in Northern Forests

Japanese authorities have confirmed the first fatal bear attack in the country in 2026, identifying the victim as a 55-year-old woman whose body was discovered on April 21 in Iwate prefecture in northern Japan. The environment ministry said the woman was killed by a bear.

One set of human remains was discovered in the Iwate region on Thursday, while another was found in a forest in the mountainous Yamagata region on Tuesday, police told AFP.

Broadcaster NHK identified one of the two as Chiyoko Kumagai, 69, who went missing after going to a mountain forest to pick edible wild plants. Police and rescuers launched a search in the forest where her car was parked and found her body shortly after 8:00 am. She had injuries on her face and head that appeared to have been caused by an animal's claws.

City officials said local hunters will begin patrolling the area where one of the bodies was discovered. The developments come after Japan recorded 13 fatal bear attacks in 2025, more than double the previous high of six. More than 200 people were injured in bear attacks in 2025.

Between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, more than 14,000 bears were culled, almost three times the previous year, according to official data. The brown bear population in Japan has doubled in three decades and now stands at around 12,000, while the number of Asian black bears on the main Honshu island has reached 42,000, a 2025 government report stated.

Mountains make up about 80 per cent of Japan.

Brown bears are found only in the main northern island of Hokkaido. Smaller Japanese black bears are common across large parts of Japan including on the main island of Honshu and are responsible for most of the attacks. Brown bears can weigh up to half a tonne.

The number of bear sightings in Miyagi, Akita, and Fukushima prefectures in April was around four times that of the previous year, the Yomiuri daily reported. Last year's record number of fatal attacks was more than double the previous high of six. Scientists have linked the surge to fast-growing bear numbers, a falling human population in rural areas, abundant food sources including acorns, deer and boars influenced by a warming climate, and poor harvests in 2025 that pushed bears toward towns and villages.

Forecasts for nuts and other food are better this year, yet record sightings have continued as animals emerge from hibernation.