TOKYO (AP) — A bear injured four people in a Japanese residential area on Tuesday in the latest attack in an area of the country where the animals have increasingly encroached on the human population in recent years.
Japan's Environment Ministry said a record 13 people were killed in more than 230 attacks by bears in 2025.
Police and fire department officials rushed to the Sasakino district of Fukushima in northeastern Japan after receiving an emergency call from the Fukushima Steel Works reporting bear attacks on two employees.
Security camera footage shows a black bear appearing and chasing an employee near the entrance. As the man in his 20s tries to flee, the bear throws him to the ground. It then moves into the compound and injures a second male employee in his 60s.
The bear later injured a third person, a male employee in his 60s at separate company. A woman in her 80s who lives in the neighborhood also was attacked and injured, the Fukushima City Fire Department said.
The three men sustained minor injuries and the woman had moderate injuries but none were considered life-threatening, the fire department said.
The bear had not been caught as of Tuesday afternoon and was believed to be inside the second company compound, which was surrounded by uniformed police carrying long sticks.
Two nearby schools were closed, including Noda Elementary School, which held classes online and put a warning on its website to “avoid non-essential outings and stay safe.”
The bear attack has rekindled last year's nationwide fear that led to Japan's army being dispatched to the northern prefecture of Akita where more than 60 people were attacked by bears, with four killed.
The encroachment by a growing bear population has occurred in a region with a rapidly aging and declining human population that has few people trained to hunt the animals, experts say.
The Japanese government in March estimated the overall bear population at around 57,800. Officials have adopted a road map of bear population management, calling for systematic culling. Under the plan, the number of municipal bear control staff will triple to 2,500 within five years, while the number of bear traps will double.
Bear sightings were reported recently in Tokyo's western suburbs, including the hiking area of Okutama. Park officials have set up additional traps and launched bear alerts on social media.
The government has stepped up a public awareness campaign, urging hikers and mushroom hunters to check notifications about bear sightings and avoid outdoor activity in the early morning and evening when bears are active.
An environment ministry manual advises that anyone encountering a bear should not panic, move slowly and avoid turning around and running. As a last resort, the manual says anyone attacked should turn face down, ball up and cover their neck.
“The point is to save yourself from a fatal wound," according to the manual.
A bear walks on the premises of an office in Fukushima, Japan, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Kyodo News via AP)
DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Friday, in a race with Abdul El-Sayed that has become a focal point for the party's fight between its moderate establishment and progressive wings.
Whitmer remains popular in the battleground state, where she has twice won by substantial margins, and her endorsement gives Stevens a significant boost a day before early in-person voting begins. Whitmer also has history with El-Sayed, whom she defeated in the 2018 Democratic primary for governor.
“Haley's got what it takes to win," Whitmer said Friday in Detroit while appearing with Stevens and South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. "If you're ready to show the rest of the country how Michigan gets the job done, vote for Haley Stevens.”
Stevens has pitched herself as a Democrat who has won tough elections, including flipping a Republican-held House seat. She has been backed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, a two-term Democrat who is retiring from the seat.
She's in a tight race for the Democratic nomination against El-Sayed, a progressive whose supporters include Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
“The corporate establishment has closed ranks and made their pick – now, Michigan voters will get to make theirs,” said Roxie Richner, a spokesperson for El-Sayed.
The winner of the Aug. 4 primary will face Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November for a critical, battleground Senate seat. Democrats are hoping to flip the Senate in November, and Michigan remains a key part of their plan.
Stevens is a four-term congresswoman from the Detroit area. Her candidacy has benefited from tens of millions in spending by outside political groups, including nearly $30 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which supports pro-Israel candidates.
El-Sayed, who accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, has criticized Stevens for taking money from AIPAC.
Whitmer is a two-term governor who isn’t on the ballot this fall, though she has been mentioned as a possible 2028 presidential candidate. She is the best-known politician in Michigan.
Whitmer had long weighed the decision. Stevens’ success winning in a competitive district, including converting the GOP-held seat for Democrats in 2018, was among the factors in the endorsement, according to a person who was familiar with the governor’s deliberations but was not authorized to discuss private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
From left foreground, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate primary candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT. join hands together following a campaign rally, Saturday, July 18, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
FILE - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivers the State of the State address at the Michigan state Capitol in Lansing, Mich., Feb. 25, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP, File)
