interactive "kuma map".
this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2026
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Good for them. Bears are lovely.
Lovely and dangerous; Japan's conservation policy gets that.
Aww those are just black bears, they're only dangerous like alligators are dangerous.
I was gonna say "they're only dangerous to kids and old folks who can't keep out of their way", but oh yeah rural Japan is like 75% old folks...
Black bears attack e'errrrbody, not to discount especially vulnerable human populations, but at least deterrents work with black bears and we have a chance to fight black bears off when they attack. Japan is fortunate not to have a similar grizzly problem.
Yeah Hokkaido has all the brown bears, I understand.
Yea, there are "black brown bears" hang onnn, Ussuri bears. You're right, they're all in Hokkaido, which is far less population and urban-center dense than the rest of Japan, so the Ussuri probably still have more space to roam and less food competition than the black bears further south.
I would expect those to be the ornery ones out looking for trouble, yeah.
Apparently education about bears has been lacking so authorities are making sure people know not to play dead with black bears.
Meh, "dangerous" is a relative term. I looked it up to make sure, and these black bears are are very similar to the black bears we have in North America; they're basically oversized raccoons. Even if you are old, give it a wack with your cane when it comes near and they're most likely to run off. They aren't polar bear dangerous or anything.
13 people fought off black bears in Japan last year and got killed or eaten anyway, with another 238 injured by Japanese black bears last year. It's good to not become over-fearful and it is good to recognize the danger that large wild animals play in your environment.
Education is a good start.
Oh I'm not saying they're harmless, just saying they're not actively hunting you the way polar bears will.
Oh yeah, for sure. Polar bears want to munch!
according to this article
Some guy got killed on the way from his front door to his car.
One spanish tourist stopped his bike to take a pic and got killed.
etc