Overview

• Japan’s Environment Ministry reports seven fatalities and at least 108 injuries from bear encounters so far in the 2025–26 fiscal year, the highest death toll since records began in 2006.
• Authorities concluded that a man in his 70s found last week in an Iwate forest died in a bear attack after investigators noted scratch marks.
• Recent incidents include a 1.4‑meter bear entering a Gunma supermarket and slightly injuring two men, an attack on a farmer outside his home in Iwate, and a tourist injured at Shirakawa‑go.
• The current tally surpasses the 85 injuries and three deaths recorded in 2024–25 and compares with 219 cases in 2023–24, according to official counts.
• Management efforts continue as thousands of bears are culled annually, and Tokyo-based researchers report an AI model that predicted bear appearances in Akita with about 65% accuracy while Hokkaido considers a similar system.