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[Bear Attacks Aging Japan] KBS 1TV Documentary Insight Record High Bear Damages... As Humans Leave Japan, Wildness Has Descended Rice Fields Left by Humans Become Feeding Grounds for Bears Aging Japanese Rural Areas, the Disappearing Boundary Between Bears and Humans The ‘Distance of Coexistence’ Found in the Place Closest to Bears Conflicts between bears and humans are surging in Japan. According to the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, in fiscal year 2025 (April 2025–March 2026), there were 238 human casualties caused by bears, including 13 deaths, marking all-time highs. Reports of bear sightings also increased to 50,776, 2.5 times higher than the previous year. Bears have descended into residential areas, schools, and farmlands. However, tracing the bears' migration routes reveals another set of changes overlapping there: a shrinking population and aging rural communities. Why are bears now venturing into human living spaces? ■ Record High Bear Attacks… As Humans Leave Japan, Wildness Has Descended “I heard a bear hiss right under my ear. I thought, ‘Ah, I’m going to die here now.’ It was a huge misconception to think I could stand up to the bear. I realized that it is impossible to deal with it using human strength.” Keiji Minatoya / Victim of a Bear Attack In a downtown area of ​​Akita Prefecture, Mr. Keiji Minatoya was chased by a suddenly appearing Asiatic black bear, fell, and was attacked repeatedly in the face. He tried to block it with his right arm, but ultimately suffered a deep wound severe enough to expose his skull. The bear that attacked him subsequently attacked a total of five people that day, including a high school girl and an elderly woman. Similar tensions are spreading into daily life across Japan. In another region, students were unable to attend school and took online classes due to bear sightings. The locations where humans and bears encounter each other have expanded beyond the mountains to areas close to residential neighborhoods. Why have bears come down so close to humans? Following the background, abandoned rural villages and cultivated fields come into view. ■ Rice paddies and fields abandoned by humans become feeding grounds for bears “If a mother bear is caught in a trap or cage, the cubs become orphans and remain around the village. The most dangerous are the inexperienced young bears. In fact, they often pick a fight and attack multiple times without running away.” Kazuhiko Maita / Japan Asiatic Black Bear Research Institute If you follow where the bears descend, you can see traces of human departure. Water hyacinths grow in the abandoned rice paddies, serving as food for the bears, while mulberries ripen on the uncut wild mulberry trees. Areas that once produced rice have become feeding grounds for bears. Having become accustomed to the village's food sources, the bears gradually become dependent on the human settlements. A cub left alone in the village after its mother is captured grows up without properly learning how to survive in the wild or how to avoid humans. These are the so-called ‘village-dependent bears.’ ■ Aging Japanese Rural Areas, the Collapsing Boundary Between Humans and Wildlife “As land that was once cultivated has become overgrown with grass and is now turning into a forest, it has become easier for wild animals, including bears, to come down to villages. I believe there is a deep connection between low birth rates, an aging population, the decline of agriculture, and the encroachment of wild animals into human settlements.” - Kiyoshi Yamauchi / Associate Professor, Department of Regional Environmental Sciences, University of Iwate The number of people who have guarded the boundary between humans and wildlife is also decreasing. The number of agricultural workers in Japan decreased by approximately 90% from 11.75 million in 1960 to 1.036 million in 2025. About 70% of the remaining agricultural workers are over 65 years old. Land that is not farmed is turning into thickets and forests, and the buffer zones between mountains and villages are gradually disappearing. The number of hunters who have managed bears is also decreasing. Even in Matagi Village in Akita Prefecture, which has maintained a 400-year tradition of bear hunting, the number of hunters has dwindled from 200 to the 30s. This creates a situation where the bear problem, brought about by a declining population, cannot be resolved due to a lack of people. ■ 'Distance of Coexistence' Found in the Place Closest to Bears Is unconditionally driving them away the only answer to avoid conflict? Across Japan, people are exploring methods to protect human living spaces by capturing bears, while simultaneously acknowledging the presence of the wild and maintaining an appropriate distance. People who have lived in the closest proximity to bears are also creating their own distances through capture, commemoration, observation, and coexistence. The p...