Man killed in apparent bear attack as deaths mount in Japan

A bear appears to have killed a man picking mushrooms in a forest in Iwate Prefecture, local police said Friday, the latest in a spate of suspected confrontations that could set a record if confirmed.

More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.

"A man in his 70s who went missing after going into the woods to harvest mushrooms was found dead," an official of the Iwate Prefectural Police said.

"We suspect he was attacked by a bear based on scratch marks," he said.

The official death toll due to bear attacks has risen to six for the fiscal year starting in April, matching a record high seen in 2023, according to the Environment Ministry.

But in the last week there have been three fatal suspected attacks, which would push fatalities to an annual record if the cause of death is confirmed as a bear.

As well as the man in his 70s, police found a dead man apparently attacked by a bear in another part of the prefecture on Wednesday.

Local broadcaster TV Iwate said his head and torso had been separated.

Meanwhile, in Nagano Prefecture, the body of a 78-year-old man with multiple claw marks was found on Saturday.

While police highly suspect they died in bear attacks, the cause of death is still under investigation.

Between April and September, 103 people nationwide suffered injuries caused by bears, according to the Environment Ministry.

On Tuesday, an agitated bear roamed the aisles of a supermarket in Gunma Prefecture, injuring two men and frightening shoppers.

The store is close to mountainous areas, but has never had bears come near before, Hiroshi Horikawa, a management planning official at the grocery store chain, said.

A Spanish tourist on Sunday was attacked by a bear at a bus stop in the scenic Shirakawago settlement in Gifu Prefecture.

Among the latest confirmed fatalities was a woman in her 70s who died last week while picking mushrooms in Miyagi Prefecture with three friends, one of whom is missing.