Overview
- Sapporo’s Maruyama Zoo reopened on November 17 after a bear was killed on the grounds and officials completed safety checks.
- Muroran’s education board temporarily closed one elementary school and one junior high on November 17 following a bear sighting near a residential area the day before.
- Akita prefectural police said a woman found in a rice field on November 16 had claw- and bite-like wounds, and they are investigating whether a bear attack caused her death.
- Local governments in Hokkaido reported targeted culling actions and ongoing discussions about emergency gun-hunt rules as sightings and incidents continued.
- In separate developments, a 68-year-old fisherman off Mie was confirmed to have drowned, China’s Osaka consulate canceled a planned Hiroshima friendship event citing security, and Taiwan’s president called on Beijing to act with restraint.