Attack by Asiatic Black Bear on 82-Year-Old Woman in Japan, Video

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 On October 8, 2025, an 82-year-old woman was attacked by an Asiatic black bear in the city of Daisen in Akita Prefecture, Japan. The attack was caught on video. The bear is presumed to be an Asiatic black bear because the brown bears (Ursus Arctos) in Japan are limited to the northern island of Hokkaido. Daisen and Akita prefecture are not on Hokkaido. Akita prefecture is on the largest of the Japanese islands, Honshu. Honshu has a significant population of Asiatic black bears.

From the actions of the bear, it appears to be a juvenile bear which has not perfected its hunting technique yet. The woman appears to hear the bear and turn toward it just before the running bear reaches her. The bear misses solid contact, only managing to claw the woman’s face before over-shooting its mark. The woman is screaming, and after another abortive attempt at a take-down, the bear retreats.  This is typical prey-testing behavior for bears. The bear does not go very far, but the woman is rescued by a passing driver. She gets into the left passenger seat (opposite of the USA) and they drive off. She was taken to the hospital.

Japan has more fatal bear attacks than the United States. It is a surprising fact, given Japan’s population is only 36% of the USA population. The USA has about ten times as many American black bears as Japan has Asiatic black bears. The USA has about 3-4 times as many brown bears (ursus arctos) as Japan has brown bears (ursus arctos) on Hokkiado island. Bears are hunted much more regularly in the USA than in Japan. Japan has one of the lowest rate of firearms ownership in the world, while the USA has the highest rate of firearms ownership in the world.

The Asiatic black bear is more aggressive than the American black bear, although the two are closely related species. The brown bears on Hokkaido are the same species as the brown bears in Alaska, the lower 48 states, Asia and Europe. They are a world wide species with a number of sub-species which have slight genetic differences. In the USA they are known as grizzly bears, brown bears, and Kodiak bears.

The Japanese government is in the process of reforming some of the onerous restrictions on hunting bears in Japan. Japan is in the process of reducing the population of brown bears on Hokkaido (about 11,000)  to a more manageable number. One of the reforms has been to allow hunters to shoot bears in urban areas without having to obtain prior permission to shoot in each individual case.

Japan could gain resources and reduce the population of brown bears in Hokkaido by selling hunting rights to sportsmen worldwide. Given the experience of Alaska, it is likely an auction for brown bear permits in Japan would bring in 30 or 40 thousand dollars each. This would bring money into the local economy for the hiring of guides, use of hotels, and other tourist amenities.

The animosity toward firearm ownership in Japan makes such an outcome highly unlikely. Elderly Japanese hunters have complained that bureaucratic restrictions are one reason they are having difficulty recruiting younger hunters.

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

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