A 69-year-old security guard was attacked by a bear in a public toilet in Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo, early on Friday, local media reported. The man told police he noticed the bear, measuring 1-1.5 metres, peering inside as he was about to leave the building near a railway station that had closed for the night.
The victim fell backwards and fought the bear off by kicking his legs, causing it to flee. He suffered minor injuries to his right leg and ran to a nearby police box to report the incident.
The attack is the latest in a record-breaking wave of bear incidents across Japan. Since April, 13 people have died from bear attacks, and the total number of attacks stands at 197, both records, according to the environment ministry. Many incidents have occurred in Akita, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures.
Experts attribute the surge to poor crops of acorns and beechnuts in bears' natural habitats, driving them into residential areas in search of food. The government has deployed self-defence forces to Akita to assist hunters and has authorised armed police to shoot bears due to a shortage of licensed hunters.
In a separate incident, a local government in north-east Japan apologised after posting an AI-generated image on social media to promote bear attack awareness. The image, showing a huge bear on a road at night, was deleted after the creator confirmed it was fake.
