Kyoto Report 2025 – 4

October 21, 2025
bill
Japan
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This Tuesday report will provide some insights into life for a westerner (me) who is working for an extended period at Kyoto University in Japan but who over the years of working here has increasingly began to understand the language and local cultural traditions.

Tokyo Event – November 6, 2025

I will be speaking at the Japanese Parliament (Diet) on Thursday, November 6, 2025 on the policy challenges for Japan.

It will a rather big event with lots of Diet members, officials, and others in attendance.

I don’t know the full details yet but I think it is a public event subject to capacity.

I will provide details when I have them.

This is a big time in Japan with the new Prime Minister about to be announced (probably today) and a new Coalition in place.

The policy environment has become very interesting as a result of this new Coalition between the LDP and the Osaka-based Ishin.

They are not a natural pairing.

I will write more about that in the coming weeks.

Peace

I am living near the Kamo delta, which is the famous junction of the Takano and Kamo rivers, the former flowing into the latter near the Demachiyanagi area.

It is a great area – the rivers and the nearby mountains are great places to spend time away from work (although note the caveat in the next part of this post).

I often just ride my bike or go walking as the night is near and see all sorts of great things – houses, wooded areas, and waterways.

One of my favourite areas is around the 下鴨神社 (Shimogamo Shrine) precinct which is 2,000 years old and set within a really peaceful forest about a km or so from my place.

Everywhere you look you seen scenes like this one.

Like much of Japan there is a juxtaposition between the frenzy of the city and the solitude of these places, all mixed up.

In Australia, the peaceful places in the cities are disappearing as development expands its greedy net.

But in Japan, the traditions are stronger and preserve these wonderful spaces.

Last weekend in the area around the Shrine – which was holding a really old ‘welcome to the worshippers’ ceremony that involved very deep and mysterious practices, music, parading, and prayers – there was a touch rugby day, which was really interesting to watch (for a while).

I saw the – Mie-Pearls – in action, which is a highly ranked women’s rugby union team in the national competition who hail from nearby Yokkaichi (in the Mie Prefecture which is adjacent to the Kyoto Prefecture).

They were pretty snappy with their passes and me being rather disinterested in rugby union generally found their skills amazing.

Big bears are loose

When one goes to a supermarket there are two objectives.

1. Get stuff.

2. Get out of there as quickly as possible.

It seems Japanese people might want to add a third objective.

3. Avoid being attacked by bear, particularly the – Asian black bear.

The Asian black bear has recently taken to wandering into supermarkets.

These characters can grow to weight 200kgs – that is, heavy.

And some estimates claim there are 14,000 of them wandering around Honshū – where I am at present, along with around 104 million other people.

That is a ratio of 7428.5715 people per bear if you add me to the 104 million other peope on Honshū, which sounds okay.

But statisticians always have to be wary of using averages, don’t they.

When they are not marching into supermarkets, these bears hang out in mountain trails, around wooded areas and in parks.

And guess what.

That is where I hang out every day while out running.

In fact, this recent media report from Radio New Zealand (October 20, 2025) – Kiwi’s arm ‘fully snapped’ in Japanese bear attack – recounts a NZ runner living in Japan was out for a nice casual run “in the foothills of Myoko” (which is up near Tokyo) and he encountered “two adult Asiatic black bears”, one of which attacked and caused him great damage.

And:

Just last week, in Numata, Gunma, a 1.4m bear strolled into a supermarket and attacked two men.

Okay, avoid supermarkets.

But what about bus stops:

Another bear swiped at a Spanish tourist waiting at a bus stop in Shirakawa-go.

There is an epidemic of bear attacks in Japan at the moment:

Seven people have died in bear attacks since April – the highest since 2006 when the data was first recorded. About 100 people have been injured.

Last week, the Japan Times article (October 14, 2025) – As temperatures drop in Japan, bear attacks shoot up to historic highs – reported that bear attacks are at “record highs”.

Last week:

A bear roamed around a hotel parking lot and lodging facilities in the Iizaka hot springs resort in Fukushima Prefecture for around 10 hours from Monday evening …

What is going on?

Apparently, the bears are about to go into hibernation as the cold weather is coming (this morning was the first cold running morning since I came 4 weeks ago).

The:

Bears are known to scrounge for food before they hibernate, so attacks tend to spike during the fall. In previous years, the highest number of bear attacks were seen in October.

And take note of the mention of “October”.

While the Autumn officially begins in September, climate change is extending the Summer well past September and into October.

It is now getting to the end of October and today was the first cool morning.

So the bear attack period is getting longer.

It seems that if you have a penchant for foraging for mushrooms in the forests you will be vulnerable:

Earlier this month, a woman in her 70s in Miyagi Prefecture was killed by a bear while she out was picking mushrooms in the forest. Another woman who was with her is still missing, with police continuing to search for her …

Earlier this month, a 78-year-old man who was foraging mushrooms in Oshika, Nagano Prefecture, was found dead in the woods. Based on the scratches on his face and neck, police suspect the man might have been attacked by a bear …

Signs like this one are going up around Japan in government buildings warning people to look out for bears.

They are part of the “Bear prevention campaign” and tell people to “Make a sound to prevent being attacked”.