The municipal government of Kyoto has installed about 80 new warning signs across the city, in four languages, to alert both residents and visitors about a spike in bear activity.
The yellow signs, measuring 1.7m high and 45cm wide, printed in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese — caution people to “beware of bears” and offer simple instructions on how to react in case of an encounter. Among other advice, the signs recommend crouching and protecting the head and neck if a bear appears nearby. Each sign also features a QR code linking to a prefectural website tracking bear sightings.
The move comes as the country faces what authorities describe as the most intense period of bear activity on record. According to public broadcaster NHK, since April 2025, Japan has recorded at least 13 fatal bear encounters and around 220 injuries — a sharp increase over previous years. As sightings rise nationwide, bears are increasingly appearing inside homes, near school grounds and even disrupting supermarkets.
The first sign was put up on 29 November in front of the branch office of the Sakyo Ward’s Yase branch, after city officials discovered bear droppings at that spot. Between April and 25 November, the city recorded 112 reports of bear sightings or related information — up from 86 over the same period in 2024.
This visualization maps Japan’s surge in bear encounters between April and November 4, 2025 — each point representing a recorded attack.
— Open Minded Approach (@OMApproach) November 9, 2025
• Yellow dots indicate injuries
• Red dots indicate deaths
2025 isn’t over yet, and the number of bear attacks and deaths has already more… pic.twitter.com/32aftA7lF0
Experts and officials attribute the surge to a combination of factors. The population of the species — the Asiatic black bear — is estimated to have more than tripled since 2012, as hunting has declined. At the same time, poor acorn and beechnut harvests this year mean bears’ natural food supply is scarce. Many rural areas have been depopulated, and abandoned farm lands or overgrown properties provide the bears with cover, making it easier for them to roam into towns.
Japan’s National Police Agency this week announced a series of emergency measures to support regions hit by a surge in bear incursions, including the distribution of 44 rifles and ammunition to police in 13 prefectures such as Akita and Iwate, along with 790 sets of protective gear for officers handling evacuations and securing areas where bears have been sighted.
A supplementary 480 million yen (€2.66m) budget was approved on 28 November to fund the plan, with police training to follow gradually. Earlier in the month, the military was deployed in northern regions to help set traps as local authorities struggled with the rise in attacks. Some prefectures, including Akita, Iwate and Gifu, have reported six times more sightings this year, leading residents to carry bear bells even in semi-urban areas, while officials test barking drones to keep bears away from orchards and other vulnerable locations.
Troops have been deployed to trap bears in parts of northern Japan, after more than 100 bear attacks that have killed a record 12 people since April https://t.co/riB8jgXSxq pic.twitter.com/hp4Cb2hsdz
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 5, 2025
While many of the incidents have occurred in remote or mountainous areas, some have taken place near popular tourist spots — including Shirakawa, a village, whose traditional thatched-roof cottages attract foreign travellers. Following last month’s incident in which a Spanish tourist was injured, six bears have been caught near Shirakawa using honey‑baited traps, and officials say more are expected.
Authorities say the multilingual signs are urgently needed to warn the rising number of international tourists in Kyoto and provide clear safety guidance to reduce the risk of bear encounters.
