Japan’s Bear Attacks Are Breaking Records. Strict Gun Laws Leave Rural Residents Waiting for Help

In 2025, Japan broke records for total and fatal bear attacks. There were 230 attacks and 13 fatalities, more than double the previous record of 6 fatalities in one year. Japan collects bear statistics by fiscal year, from April 1 to March 31.

2026 is off to a bad start. Five fatalities have been identified from April 1 to June 30. The previous record was two fatalities during April 1 to June 30. Bear attacks tend to trail off in July and August, and pick up significantly in September, October and November. Bears in Japan start hibernating in December. Another fatality is being investigated in a mountainous area of Tohoku. If found to be a bear caused fatality, it would be the sixth in 2026. Before 2025, the record for bear fatalities in Japan was six in one year. The record number of people killed by bears in North America continues at six in one year.

All five verified bear fatalities in 2026 have been inflicted by Asiatic black bears. Only Asiatic black bears live in Tohoku.  Japan is home to two types of bears, the Asiatic black bears and the Ussuri brown bears. The brown bears only occur on Hokkaido, the most northern of the Japanese islands. There are about 12,000 brown bears on Hokkaido. The brown bears are a subspecies of Ursus Arctos, also known as grizzly bears, Kodiak bears, and European brown bears. The are all slight variations of Ursus Arctos.  Large differences in sizes are the result of how common food supplies are where the bears live.

In 2025, only two fatalities were from brown bears on Hokkaido. Eleven were from Asiatic black bears on the other Japanese islands. The Asiatic black bears are related to the American black bears, but are reported to be more aggressive. There are reported to be about 54,000 Asiatic black bears in Japan. The human Japanese population is shrinking. Many small farms in rural areas are being abandoned. This increases habitat for the bears, and brings the bears into closer contact with humans. The bears become habituated to humans and lose their fear of humans.

The increase in bear attacks is attributed to an increasing bear population. The bear population has increased for several reasons. Hunting of both species of bears was severely restricted since 1990. Before 1990, bears were treated as pests.

The population of licensed bear hunters dropped from 517,000 in 1975 to 218,500 in 2020.  Extremely strict firearms regulations have made it difficult to obtain a license to shoot a bear.  According to the Guardian,  in 1975, 98% of people in Japan with a license to hunt bears, had a license to shoot bears. In 2020, only 42% had a license to shoot bears. The other 58% are allowed to trap bears, but not to shoot them. In order to obtain a permit to have a rifle, a person must obtain a permit to have a shotgun. After ten years of shotgun possession with a spotless record, one can apply to obtain a rifle. Japanese hunters are limited to 50 rifle cartridges a year for all purposes.The shrinking number of bear hunters in Japan are aging. 60% of bear hunters in Japan are over the age of 60.

Japan has started to take measures to reduce the population of bears on the islands. The Japanese government is setting goals to reduce the bear population by about a third in the areas where there are the most problems. According to asianews.network, the  bear populations in Chubu are to be reduced to 63% of the present population, to 62% in the Tohoku prefectures, and 67% in the Kanto prefectures. The bear population in Hokkaido is projected to be reduced to 71% of current levels. The annual population growth of bears is estimated at 14.5%, with target harvest numbers of 20%.

This correspondent has not found a single case where a handgun was fired in defense against a bear in Japan. It is nearly impossible for an ordinary person to obtain a permit to own a handgun. Some police officers sometimes carry handguns. The officers with handguns are almost never where the problem bears are. This year, a police officer was attacked by a bear while searching for a missing person. The bear was killed by a licensed Japanese hunter about 10 minutes later.

When there are bear problems, the bears are usually trapped. Sometimes bears are shot, in highly restrictive circumstances. Often, the person shooting the bear needs to obtain permission to do so seconds or minutes before the bear is shot.

Problem bears in North America tend to be shot rather quickly, often by the intended victim. The lower 48 states of the United States have about 17% of the numbers of ursus arctos (brown bear/grizzly) which exist in Japan. In the lower 48 United States, 211 ursus arctos were killed in defense of human life from 2002 through 2023.  Those are bears killed in the act of being aggressive toward humans. In the United States, the ability to carry a handgun for self defense is a Constitutional right.

In Japan, during the same period, one or two ursus arctos (brown/grizzly bears) may have been killed while being aggressive toward humans. This is because only hunters are allowed to carry firearms, and only when they are hunting. A couple of Japanese hunters may have killed bears in Japan while the bears acted aggressively toward them. Carrying firearms for self defense in Japan is not allowed. Police are virtually never where the bear attacks occur. When a bear needs to be shot, local hunters or the military are called in. There is a reform movement to allow police to kill problem bears without asking permission of the local governments just before they shoot.

©2026 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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