'Bear Fear' Spreads to Greater Tokyo... Tokyo Considers Lifting Ban on Capturing Asiatic Black Bears

Japan Sets All-Time Record with Over 50,000 Bear Sightings Last Year

As bear attacks on people continue to occur in Japan and bear-related incidents have spread to areas near Tokyo, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has begun considering lifting the ban on capturing Asiatic black bears.

According to Yomiuri Shimbun and other foreign media outlets on July 8, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government held a Natural Environment Conservation Council meeting the previous day and discussed a plan to gradually lift the ban on capturing Asiatic black bears. Since Tokyo is mountainous, seven local governments—including Hachioji City and the Okutama area, where bear sightings are frequent—will designate urban districts and riversides, which are bear migration routes, as special management zones. The city also plans to strengthen monitoring and capture activities and to install electric fences.

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Previously, since 2008, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government had classified the Asiatic black bear as a protected species, banning its capture. However, as the bear population in forests bordering Saitama and Yamanashi prefectures has grown and sightings in residential areas have become more frequent, Tokyo is now considering a phased lifting of the capture ban beginning next year. Currently, Tokyo estimates that up to 378 Asiatic black bears inhabit its jurisdiction.

However, instead of managing bears uniformly, the government plans to divide areas into habitats, buffer zones, and zones with strengthened management in order to promote coexistence with humans. Recently, after a man who was trying to avoid a bear in Hinohara Tokyo Citizens’ Forest in western Tokyo fell off a cliff, authorities temporarily closed hiking trails and canceled nature observation events scheduled for this month. In Hachioji City, the local government has enhanced its response by distributing bear warning bells to elementary school students and installing bear traps.

Meanwhile, according to statistics compiled by the Japanese government, the number of bear sightings in fiscal year 2025 (April 2025 to March 2026) reached 50,776, marking an all-time high. This figure is more than double the previous record of 24,348 cases in fiscal year 2023. By region, Akita Prefecture recorded the highest number with 13,592 cases, followed by Iwate Prefecture (9,739 cases) and Miyagi Prefecture (3,559 cases). The number of bears captured also rose dramatically to 14,720, nearly three times higher than the previous year, with 14,601 of those bears reportedly killed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.