Overview

• Police in Miyagi Prefecture found a mushroom picker in her 70s dead in the woods with injuries consistent with a bear attack, and a woman from the same group remains missing.
• In Nagano Prefecture, a 78-year-old man was discovered dead with claw marks, and police are treating the case as a suspected bear attack.
• On Sunday, a Spanish tourist sustained a minor arm wound in the UNESCO-listed village of Shirakawa-go; trails were closed and patrols increased after officials said the bear was likely a young Asiatic black bear.
• NHK has reported five fatal attacks and 69 injuries from April to August, with experts citing rural depopulation, fewer hunters, and climate-driven shifts in food and hibernation as factors pushing bears into populated areas.
• In early September, the government eased gun rules to let municipalities authorize hunters to shoot bears in residential areas during emergencies under defined safety requirements.