In 2025, Japan recorded its deadliest year on record for bear attacks, with 11 people killed and more than 100 injured. According to the Environment Ministry, this is the highest toll since data collection began in 2006.
Once secretive forest dwellers, Asiatic black and brown bears are now appearing in supermarkets, schoolyards, and city streets across northern and central Japan. The trend isn’t random. It’s being driven by three significant forces:
1) A shrinking human footprint
2) Fewer people managing them
3) A changing climate that’s stripping the forests of food.
Japan’s rural population is aging fast, and entire farming villages are vanishing. As fields go fallow and homes sit empty, the forest reclaims what people once maintained – and bears follow. In prefectures like Akita and Iwate, where populations have dropped by over 30 percent in two decades, bears now move freely into areas that used to keep them at bay.
In 1975 Japan issued more than 517,800 hunting licenses, but by 2020 the number had dropped to 218,500, with about 60% of license-holders aged 60 or over. Over this timeframe, Japan’s bear populations has been climbing. The Asiatic black bear alone has risen from roughly 15,000 in 2012 to about 44,000 today, while the number of licensed hunters has plunged from over 500,000 in 1975 to just 218,500 by 2020, and most are over 60 years old. That gap has left vast tracts of mountain land unmanaged and overrun with wildlife.
The Environment Ministry points to a decline in acorn and beech harvests, critical autumn food for bears. This is caused by warmer temperatures and erratic rains forcing bears down from the mountains in search of calories – often into human towns. Scientists also warn that rising winter temperatures are disrupting hibernation, keeping bears active longer and hungrier.
Poor mast years, refers to years when trees produce very few nuts, seeds, or fruits – collectively called mast.
“Mast” is the natural food supply that bears and other wildlife depend on, especially in autumn. It includes acorns, beechnuts, chestnuts, and other forest crops that provide the high calories animals need to fatten up before winter.
So, when foresters or biologists say it’s a poor mast year, they mean the forest didn’t produce enough of these foods – usually because of drought, late frost, or climate-related disruptions. For bears, that means they have to roam farther (often into human areas) to find food, which directly drives more human – bear conflicts.
Japan’s surge in bear encounters underscores a deeper turning point – where human withdrawal and ecological change are reshaping the balance between people and wildlife. Government data show over 19,000 bear sightings last year – nearly double what was recorded a decade ago. Each incident is more than a safety issue; it reflects how rural decline and shifting climates are transforming the country’s landscapes. As forests reclaim old farmland and bears adapt to human presence, traditional systems of coexistence are being tested in real time.
Restoring balance will take more than short-term control measures. Conservationists emphasize long-term coexistence strategies – reviving native food forests, improving waste management, and supporting community-led wildlife patrols. Japan’s challenge now is not simply containing bears, but redefining how humans live alongside a recovering wild.
The solution isn’t as simple as removing bears. Experts are calling for coexistence strategies – better waste management, replanting oak and beech forests to restore food sources, and new funding for wildlife patrols. The Environment Ministry has proposed an additional $25 million to support local response teams and education programs.
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Takeaway
Japan’s bear encounters are more than tragic accidents – they reflect a broader environmental and demographic shift. As rural life declines, climate pressures mount, and wild spaces expand, humans and bears are colliding in ways that test the balance of coexistence.
For everyday people, helping starts small: support reforestation and wildlife education efforts, donate to local conservation groups, and follow bear-safe practices outdoors. These actions – combined with stronger local management and habitat restoration – are how Japan can begin rebuilding the boundaries between people and the wild.
