Japan on May 8 confirmed its first death from bear attacks in 2026, after the country recorded a record of 13 deaths and more than 200 injuries in similar incidents in 2025.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Environment, the victim was a 55-year-old woman discovered in Iwate prefecture on April 21.
Police also announced that 2 other bodies had just been found this week in Iwate and Yamagata prefecture, but the cause of death has not been confirmed.
Last year, Japan witnessed the highest number of deadly bear attacks ever, far exceeding the old record of 6 cases. Bears regularly appear in people's homes, near schools, supermarkets and hot spring resorts.
The Japanese government once deployed troops to support bear trapping and hunting. Official data shows that more than 14,000 bears were destroyed in the period from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, nearly 3 times higher than the previous year.
Experts believe that the rapid increase in the number of bears, along with the decline in population in rural areas, has caused wildlife to get closer to human habitats. Climate change also creates conditions for food sources such as oak seeds, deer and wild boars to develop strongly.
A government report in 2025 said that the brown bear population in Japan has doubled in 3 decades, to about 12,000. The number of Asian black bears on Honshu Island also reached about 42,000.
Experts say that overload in the living environment causes many bears to leave the mountains and descend to residential areas. Baby bears are increasingly less afraid of humans and tend to look for agricultural products or fruits such as persimmons.
According to local media, although natural food sources are forecast to improve this year, the number of times bears have been seen is still at a record high as they have just finished their hibernation. In Miyagi, Akita and Fukushima prefectures, the number of bear discoveries in April was about 4 times higher than the same period last year.
