Tokyo Weighs Lifting Bear Hunting Ban After One Injury and New Population Estimate

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is considering lifting its ban on hunting Asian black bears for the first time since April 2008. The move follows an estimate of between 120 and 378 bears living in the capital and a recent injury to a hiker in western Tokyo. A man in his 50s was injured Tuesday in a forest park in Hinohara after encountering a bear during a hike.

The metropolitan government conducted the population study in the fiscal year that began April 2025. Researchers collected hair samples from traps and used DNA analysis to map movement ranges, arriving at a density of 0.47 bears per square kilometer of forest. Bear attacks have risen nationwide.

Five fatal incidents have been recorded across Japan since April, and fiscal 2025 produced a record 13 bear-related deaths. On Tuesday the Tohoku Regional Forest Office released forecasts showing abundant beechnuts this fall in Akita, Iwate and two other prefectures. Iwate had not received a positive forecast in 11 years, and the five prefectures saw severely poor harvests last year.

Authorities in those prefectures are still urging residents to remain alert and take precautions against attacks.