Record Deaths by Bear Attacks in Japan in 2025

Image of American black bear by Dean Weingarten, American brown/grizzly bear by Troy Nemitz; Image of Asian Black Bear from wikimedia license 4.0; Wikimedia Ussuri Brown bear 2008 CC 2.0 

Japan has had ten people killed by bears in 2025. It is a record number, with than 172 people injured by October 22. In 2023, more than 200 were injured, but only six died.

Japan has more people killed by bears than are people killed by bears in the United States. Since Japan started keeping records in 2007, the number of people killed by wild (not captured) bears has been 50 in Japan, with one uncertain, as of October, 2025.  For the same time period, wild bears killed 35 people in the United States. From japantimes.co.jp:

Separate bear attacks in Japan killed one and injured four on Friday, officials said, days after the government vowed to toughen measures because of a record year of deadly assaults by the animals.

Before Friday’s attacks, bears had killed a record nine people this year, surpassing the previous high of six in the fiscal year that ended in March 2024.

The animal has been increasingly encroaching into Japan’s towns due to factors ranging from a declining human population to climate change.

During the same interval, 34 people were killed by wild bears in Canada.   Japan has bout 11,000 brown bears and about 30,000- 40,000 Asiatic black bears. Japan does not have any wild polar bears. The United States has about 35,000 brown/grizzly bears, 400,000 black bears (including Alaska), and about 3,000 to 4,000 polar bears, depending on the time of year. Canada has about 30,000 brown/grizzly bears, about 400,000 black bears and about 16,000 polar bears.

The United States has the highest rate of privately owned firearms per person in the world (about 1.5). Japan has one of the lowest rates of privately owned firearms in the world (about .003). Canada’s rate of private firearms ownership is in between that of the United States and that of Japan, (about .35). These are not the only differences. In the USA, firearms, including handguns, can be carried in nearly all the areas frequented by bears. In Japan it is nearly impossible to obtain a permit to carry a firearm, especially a handgun. In Canada, long guns can normally be carried in wild areas, but it is very difficult to obtain permission to carry a handgun. It is easier to obtain a permit to carry a handgun in wild areas in Canada than it is in Japan.

Japan is reacting to the increasing bear attacks by training government hunters. The government intends to manage the bear population. From japantimes.co.jp, October 22, 2025:

New Environment Minister Hirotaka Ishihara called the attacks “a big problem, a serious problem”.

“We are committed to further strengthening various measures including securing and training government hunters and managing the bear population,” he told a news conference Wednesday.

Ishihara was appointed to his post late Tuesday when new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi launched her government.

Japan could have a net income, turning the problem of overpopulation of bears into an opportunity, by licensing foreign hunters to harvest the surplus bears in Japan. This correspondent predicts such a scheme will not happen.

Japanese firearms law is much too restrictive to allow non-Japanese people to access firearms for short periods, even during highly supervised and guided hunts, on Japanese soil. The regulatory requirements for possessing a firearm take too long. The tests are conducted in Japanese. A foreigner living in Japan can take the time and expense to qualify, but few do.

Japan’s Akita regional governor has called for the military to aid in culling the number of Asiatic black bears in the prefecture. With helicopters, modern weapons, and thermal imaging systems, Japan’s military could do the job. Wild animals larger than humans cannot stand up to modern technology. Such use of the military would be expensive. Japan would not be the first country to use sophisticated technology to cull animal populations. Australia has been using helicopters to cull wild horses and camels for years.

©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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