Japan has confirmed its first fatal bear attack of 2026 after recording an unprecedented 13 casualties last year.

Authorities said a 55-year-old woman found dead in the northern Iwate prefecture last month was killed by a bear. Two other bodies discovered in Iwate on 7 May and Yamagata prefecture on 5 May, respectively, were suspected to be linked to bear attacks as well.

One of those victims was identified by NHK as 69-year-old Chiyoko Kumagai, who had disappeared after going into a mountain forest to collect edible wild plants.

She was found with injuries to her face and head that appeared to have been caused by animal claws.

Japan saw a surge in dangerous bear encounters in 2025, with the animals entering homes, schools, supermarkets, and hot spring resorts.

Experts say the rise is linked to a growing bear population, climate-related food changes, depopulation in rural areas, and abandonment of farmland. All these factors, they note, are pushing bears closer to human settlements.

In April, it was reported that a woman’s body had been found in Iwate, shortly after a police officer was injured in a bear attack while searching for a missing person. The officer, 56, suffered wounds to an arm and face after coming across the animal near a stream.

At the time, it was not confirmed if the woman had been a victim of the bear attack. On Friday, the environment ministry confirmed that she indeed was.

The previous fatal bear attack had occurred in Yuzawa, in the neighbouring Akita prefecture, on 3 November last year.

Japan’s brown bear population has doubled over the past three decades to around 12,000, while Asian black bears on the main island of Honshu now number about 42,000, according to a 2025 government report.

Last year, Japan deployed its military to the Akita prefecture to help contain an increase in deadly attacks as bear sightings in the region jumped sixfold to over 8,000.

Following the rise in bear sightings near popular tourist areas, the Japan Tourism Agency decided to subsidise up to half of the cost of installing protective fences around its open-air baths at traditional inns and hotels.

Sightings in 2026 have already surged, especially in the northern prefectures of Miyagi, Akita and Fukushima.