Japan flags record bear casualties as public safety threat deepens
Japan’s 2026 environment white paper says sightings topped 50,000 in fiscal 2025, as the government urges action on bears and resource security.
- Japan's government has officially declared bears a "serious threat to public safety" due to a record number of casualties.
- In fiscal year 2025, the number of people injured or killed by bears reached a record high of 238, with over 50,000 sightings reported nationwide.
- As a countermeasure, the government has authorized shooting bears in residential areas when deemed necessary and is calling for the training of new hunters.
Bears now pose a “serious threat to public safety and peace” in Japan after encounters with the animals and related casualties climbed to record highs in fiscal 2025, the government said in its annual report released on Friday (June 5).
The 2026 environment white paper, approved at Friday’s cabinet meeting, cited government data showing that bear sightings nationwide surpassed 50,000 in the year through March.
The number of people injured or killed by bears reached 238 over the same period.
In response, the government has since September last year authorised affected municipalities to shoot bears in residential districts when urgent action is deemed necessary.
The report referred to several cases of emergency gun hunting, while stressing the need to train new hunters with advanced knowledge and skills, as Japan’s existing hunters continue to age.
Separately, the white paper pointed to the global oil tanker crisis as evidence of petroleum’s continued importance.
It called on Japan to shift towards a “circular economy”, in which resources and materials are used with high efficiency to generate added value.
Improving resource efficiency, the report said, “also contributes to strengthening (the country’s) economic security.”
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
