Overview

• Police in Iwate said a man in his 70s who went to harvest mushrooms was found dead with scratch marks consistent with a bear, with the cause of death still under investigation.
• The Environment Ministry reports six confirmed deaths from bear attacks since April, matching 2023’s record, and 103 injuries nationwide between April and September.
• Three suspected fatal attacks reported over the past week in Iwate and Nagano could set a new annual record if all are confirmed as bear-related.
• Recent incidents include a bear roaming a supermarket in Gunma that injured two men and an attack on a Spanish tourist waiting at a bus stop in Shirakawa-go.
• Officials have authorized emergency shootings by designated hunters, while experts link increased incursions to food shortages such as acorn scarcity alongside demographic pressures.