Japan calls on army to tackle ‘unprecedented wave of bear attacks’

Japan’s mountainous northern region is experiencing a spike in attacks

Japan's Akita prefecture, a mountainous northern region, is grappling with an unprecedented surge in bear attacks, prompting its governor to seek military intervention.

Governor Kenta Suzuki expressed the severe strain on local resources in an Instagram post on Sunday, stating: "Exhaustion on the ground is reaching its limit."

He intends to visit the defence ministry as early as Tuesday to request assistance with a bear cull.

However, a defence ministry spokesperson indicated she was unaware of any such planned visit.

Suzuki's plea came after a bear attack in Akita on Friday in which one person was killed and three others injured, amid a record number of attacks across the country this year.

54 people have been attacked or killed by bears in Akita this year - up from 11 in 2024 (Getty/iStock)

Local authorities in Akita say 54 people have been killed or injured this year, up from 11 last year, while sightings have increased around six-fold to more than 8,000 incidents.

Rising bear numbers and depopulation in rural areas are increasingly bringing people into contact with bears.

Many encounters have occurred in towns and villages where the animals forage for food, sometimes entering homes, and on at least two occasions, supermarkets.

Japan's ageing population also means it has too few qualified hunters to track down bears, which appear less fearful of humans than in the past.

Japanese black bears, common across most of the country, can weigh up to 140 kg (309 pounds). Brown bears on its northern island of Hokkaido can weigh as much as 400 kg.

Akita has begun "distributing bear-repellent spray along school routes to ensure children's safety," Suzuki said in his post.