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yesterday

Japan Confirms First Fatal Bear Attack of 2026 as Police Probe Two More Deaths

The probes underscore rising encounters with bears after a record toll last year.

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Bear spray is seen at a store in Hanamaki, Iwate prefecture
A spate of bear encounters including at hot spring resorts and in supermarkets last year has sparked alarm, with the government deploying troops to help trap and hunt the animals
Japan's brown bear population has doubled in three decades, and now stands at around 12,000, while the number of Asian black bears has climbed on the main Honshu island, reaching 42,000, according to a 2025 government report

Overview

  • Authorities confirmed the year's first fatal bear attack, saying a 55-year-old woman died on April 21 in Iwate Prefecture.
  • Police said two people had died and they are checking if bears were involved, after bodies were found in Iwate on May 7 and in a Yamagata forest.
  • NHK reported that 69-year-old Kumagai Chiyoko was located in an Iwate mountain forest where she went to pick wild plants, with injuries that looked like claw marks.
  • City officials said local hunters were expected to begin patrolling the search area on May 8 to deter bears.
  • Last year saw a record 13 people killed and 216 injured in bear encounters, and officials cite more bears and poor natural food in 2025 as factors as the government expands culling and deployments.