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As bear attacks rise in Japan, fearful residents change daily routines

Jeff Kingston used to take long walks with his dogs across the hills of Gunma in central Japan. But not this year.
He has good reason….

By Samantha Johnson / October 7, 2026

Jeff Kingston used to take long walks with his dogs across the hills of Gunma in central Japan. But not this year.

He has good reason. Kingston said he has encountered bears in those mountains more than 100 times over the years and been charged by aggressive bears around a dozen times. In 2014, a black bear knocked him down and attacked him across the skull with its claws, leaving a gash that required nine stitches.

“This year, I have actively refrained from going into the hills precisely because I want to avoid encounters,” said Kingston, an American academic who lives in Tokyo but has a lodge in Gunma. “And when I do go, I always carry bear spray and a baseball bat just in case.”

His caution reflects a wider concern in Japan, where bear encounters have surged in recent years, including in residential areas and farmland, prompting authorities to warn people to take extra care as the animals prepare for winter.

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