Japanese Bear Expert Sounds Alarm Over Increase in Attacks, Calls for Population Control

With the number of bear attacks on the rise in Japan, expert Ohnishi Naoki believes it is necessary to do more to keep the country’s bear population under control, including training and hiring hunters. He is the research team leader at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute’s Tōhoku Research Center. He joined the institute after completing graduate studies in agriculture at Hokkaidō University. His research focuses on the genetic evolution of the Asian black bear and other wild mammals, and he regularly provides media commentary on bear sightings.

A surge in bear sightings and attacks on people has shaken Japan, with the northern prefectures of Tōhoku particularly affected. Ohnishi Naoki regards the situation as disaster level and calls for urgent action. “Previously, humans mostly encountered bears in satoyama areas [spaces where people and nature coexist],” he says. “Now, these encounters are breaching into suburban residential areas and even downtown areas of prefectural capitals.”

The trend first became apparent in 2023, but this year the bears are moving deeper into human living spaces. “In Morioka, bears have been spotted in the parking lot of the Bank of Iwate’s headquarters as well as the grounds of Iwate University. In Akita Prefecture, bear sightings have been reported near supermarkets and high schools.”

“Previously, humans mostly encountered bears in satoyama areas [spaces where people and nature coexist],” he says. Now, these encounters are breaching into suburban residential areas and even downtown areas of prefectural capitals.

Author’s summary: A leading Japanese bear researcher warns of escalating attacks and urges population control measures as bears increasingly intrude into urban areas, underscoring a growing human-wildlife conflict.

nippon.com — 2025-11-20

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