Japanese Black Bear (ツキノワグマ)

The bears of mainland Honshu are Japanese Black Bears (tsukinowa-guma in Japanese), but are usually just referred to as kuma, which means bear. In Hokkaido, the much bigger and much more aggressive Ezo Brown Bears, or higuma dwell. But on the Nakasendo you don’t have to worry about encountering one of them. However, Japanese Black Bears are by no means safe or nothing to worry about.

The combination of the Kiso Valley having a low human population and a very high percentage of the land being mountainous forest makes it the ideal territory for bears. It is said that the mountainous regions near Ontake may have the highest bear population density in Japan. In the winter they are hunted. Some people eat bear meat, and the organs have enormous financial value in traditional Chinese medicine.

Locals of the Kiso Valley quite regularly spot bears and there have been attacks and deaths in recent years. At the time of writing the most recent attacks were in Nagiso Town in 2020 when an 83-year-old local man was found dead with a bite wound to his neck after going out for a run on logging roads. In 2021 a 63-year-old laborer was attacked and seriously injured, including a broken upper jaw in Kiso Town.  While these events are scary, there are ways to very effectively mitigate the risks of meeting a bear.

How to Avoid Bears:

The best way to stay safe is to not meet a bear at all. And the best way to not meet a bear is to let it know that you are coming. That means making plenty of noise. Japanese Black Bears are omnivores eating shoots, nuts, insects, etc., and don’t view humans as a source of food. They are also usually skittish and run away if they hear you coming. So here are some of the best way to avoid meeting bears in Japan.

1. Bring a Bear Bell: Carrying a bear bell, kuma-yoke-suzu (熊よけ鈴), is a common and effective method of telling the bear you are coming. Attach one to your backpack and you will ring-a-ding-a-ling as you walk. If you don’t have one, they are commonly sold in souvenir shops of the Kiso Valley, home-centers or they can be rented from some tourism offices in the area. If planning in advance, have you ever heard of amazon?

2. Ring the Bell: Some of the most popular hikes on the Nakasendo already have bear bells for hikers to ring placed along the trail. When you see one, you are encouraged to ring it enthusiastically!

3. Conversation: Equally effective, and some say more so than bells, is conversation. If you are walking with friends, family, or even foe (why you would do that to yourself, I do not know), keeping up a lively conversation lets bears know of your whereabouts so they can avoid you. If you run out of things to say, play a word game, sing a shanty, or recite haiku