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This 125 km route runs from Hachimantai to Namioka Castle, passing through Iwate, Aomori, and Akita. In the past 30 days, 99 bear sightings were reported within 5 km of the route. The past 7 days account for 27 of them. The latest sighting was reported 20 hours ago near Kazuno, Akita.
This is an active bear corridor. Rerouting or rescheduling your hike is strongly advised.
3 places within 1 km of your route, passing through Iwate, Aomori, Akita.
While driving from the west to the east, I witnessed one bear about 50 centimeters long walking into the brush on the north side.
Kazuno, Akita
In a household property field / body length 1 m / 20 m from the house / 20 m distance from the witness While in the field, I saw a bear pass through the field heading east.
Kazuno Towada-Okada, Akita
Around 6:20 AM on July 25, a bear was seen moving in Towada-Oyu Sekigami, Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture.
Kazuno Towada-Okada, Akita
Municipal road / body length 1 m / 20 m from residence / 20 m from witness While riding a motorcycle on the municipal road, I observed a bear crossing the road from east to west and entering the grass.
Kazuno Towada-Okada, Akita
Rice field / body length 70 cm / 30 m from houses, etc. / 1 m from witness While driving a vehicle on a municipal road and preparing to turn at an intersection, the witness saw a bear poke its head out of the grass and then return into the grass.
Kazuno, Akita
A bear was seen moving in Hanawa Furudate, Kazuno City.
Kazuno, Akita
An 84-year-old man was attacked by a bear while working in the fields in Magata, Hachimantai City, and suffered injuries to his jaw and left arm.
Hachimantai 越戸, Iwate
Was eating a watermelon.
Owani Hachimandate, Aomori
[Report] On the town road there was one young bear about 40 centimeters in body length. When it noticed the car, it looked at us once, then changed direction and went into the bushes of Yunotani-chi toward the Sunagosawa River, where it appears to have come from. No adult bear was seen. The cub was about the size expected for one born this year and jet black and clean, looking almost like a stuffed animal. The thought that the mother might be nearby was frightening.
Kosaka, Akita
On private residential property / body length 1 m / distance to witness 2 m / 2 m from the house. While watching TV inside the residence, the witness heard a rustling sound and a bear emerged from the brush. The bear rambled across the property from east to west, passing very close to the house as it moved, and then entered the forest.
Kazuno Osarizawa, Akita
(From Ōwani town report) There was a report that it ran off toward the river.
Owani Komaki, Aomori
A branch of the apple tree had been broken. In addition to several claw marks on the tree, footprints and droppings were found nearby. [Issued by Hirakawa City]
Hirakawa Ikarigaseki-Hisayoshi, Aomori
While passing by, I witnessed a bear about 1.2 m in body length cross the municipal road from east to west approximately 100 m ahead, then move into the riverbank area.
Kazuno Osarizawa, Akita
Municipal road / body length 80 cm / 200 m from a residence / 10 m from the witness While driving a vehicle on the municipal road, the witness saw a bear crossing the road from south to north and entering the forest.
Kazuno, Akita
(From Ōwani town post) Ran across and fled through the area near Ameike Community Center (ski resort slope).
Owani Nijikai, Aomori
Around 10:00 on 2026-07-23, traces suggesting a bear appearance were found in Ikariseki Hisayoshi Shitaichitsu, Hirakawa City, Aomori, and apples were damaged.
Hirakawa Ikarigaseki-Hisayoshi, Aomori
At around 8:30 AM on July 23, a bear was seen moving in Hanawa Sekinegawara, Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture.
Kazuno Osarizawa, Akita
While driving, a single bear approximately 1 m in length was observed on a city road. Subsequent direction of movement and other details are unknown.
Kazuno Hanawa, Akita
Witnessed one bear approximately 1 m in body length crossing the municipal road heading north and moving down to the riverbed. Its subsequent direction of movement is unknown.
Kazuno, Akita
A bear was sighted in Hanawa Shibanai Otagaya, Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture, around 13:35 on July 22.
Kazuno Hanawa, Akita
A bear was sighted moving in Hanawa Takichimukai, Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture, around 07:20 on 2026-07-22.
Kazuno, Akita
Crossed from the southbound lanes of the Tohoku Expressway to the northbound lanes.
Kosaka, Akita
On 2026-07-21 around 16:45, a bear was sighted moving in Kosaka Kogyo, Kosaka Town, Akita Prefecture.
Kosaka, Akita
One bear (just under 1 m in body length) was observed walking from the road in front of Ōwani Town School Lunch Center toward the mountain behind the lunch center.
Owani Nijikai, Aomori
[Post] I was standing on the left bank setting a hook to start fishing for sweetfish when a friend downstream shouted something. Looking around, I saw a bear cub about 10 meters upstream swimming from the left bank to the right bank. I was on alert, thinking the mother might be nearby, but it was the only one.
Kazuno Towada-Nishikigi, Akita
A bear was sighted moving in Towada Suehiro Kamiyabu, Kazuno City.
Kazuno Towada-Nishikigi, Akita
I didn’t actually see the bear, but when I went to check during the peach harvest period I found damage from feeding, and discovered a small amount of droppings that appear to be from a bear.
Hirosaki, Aomori
Spotted one bear about 1 m in body length in front of an agricultural greenhouse. The bear then crossed the road to the west and was observed moving north.
Kazuno, Akita
Ran off toward the mountain to the north.
Hirakawa, Aomori
A bear was sighted in Ikarigaseki Funaoka, Hirakawa City, Aomori, around 4 PM on July 17.
Hirakawa Ikarigaseki-Hisayoshi, Aomori
I witnessed something that appeared to be a bear enter the brush to the east near the Kamitogawa Bridge.
Kuroishi 竹田町, Aomori
I sighted a bear walking north from the vicinity of Takeda Bridge.
Kuroishi 竹田町, Aomori
It poked its head out of the bushes on the left side facing the Kosaka direction, but it immediately withdrew when startled by the car.
Odate, Akita
Around 20:30 on July 16, a bear was sighted in Higashinozoe Takeda, Kuroishi City, Aomori, and was seen moving.
Kuroishi 竹田町, Aomori
A single bear about 80 cm in body length crossed the farm road and headed west.
Hirosaki, Aomori
Footprints believed to be from a bear were found on residential property. No similar tracks were observed on nearby roads or elsewhere in the vicinity.
Kazuno Osarizawa, Akita
A neighbor spotted one bear (body length approximately 1.0 m) / direction of travel: east / about 10 m from the nearest house
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
A bear was sighted in Nagahayashi Jinba, Odate City, around 08:07 on July 15.
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
A driver who visited JR Jinba Station sighted one bear (approximately 1.0 m in body length) near the tracks / direction of travel: east / about 20 m from the above station
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
It crossed the tracks in front of the platform and walked toward the mountains.
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
A bear was sighted moving in Yakushido Minami Kumazawa, Hirosaki City, Aomori on July 15 around 12:30.
Hirosaki, Aomori
[Post] In the rice field
Kazuno, Akita
A bear was sighted in Hanawa-Tsuburone, Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture.
Kazuno Towada-Nishikigi, Akita
(Posted) Emerged from the shrubs beside the intersection and fled across the rice field heading southwest.
Kazuno Towada-Nishikigi, Akita
[Post]
Kosaka Araya, Akita
[Report] Two bears (a mother and cub) were on the road. Direction of movement unknown.
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
A bear was sighted in Nagahashiri Jamba, Ōdate City.
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
Report: A single bear about 80 centimeters long was in the rice-field ridge at 1 Murashita, Kosaka, Kosaka Town. It was walking westward, eating grass along the ridge and beside irrigation channels, then climbed the west-side slope vegetation, crossed the town road, and entered the western woodland. When it spotted a light truck on the town road, it turned back into the vegetation and crossed the road at a distance to avoid it.
Kosaka, Akita
A bear was sighted in Towada-Nishiki Murota, Kazuno City, and was seen moving.
Kazuno Towada-Nishikigi, Akita
A single bear about 70 cm in body length was crossing the old national road from south to north.
Kazuno Towada-Nishikigi, Akita
Calm bear sitting next to the road, vanished into the bushes after a few seconds.
Kazuno, Akita
City road / body length 80 cm / 30 m from residences / 50 m distance from witness. From inside a building, the witness saw a small bear poke its head out of shrubs on the north side of the city road, then return back into the north side.
Kazuno Osarizawa, Akita
Observed a mother bear and cub walking south along the north–south road between Santa Reservoir and Yoshinoda New Reservoir. The mother and cub entered a field and were not seen afterward.
Aomori, Aomori
A mother bear with two cubs ran from the road toward the mountain path/area leading to the waterfall. Nearby there was a dropping that looked like it belonged to a bear.
Kosaka, Akita
Two young bears about 70 centimeters long were in a cleared lot beside a rice field. They were wandering around a cleared area adjacent to a crushed-stone storage site, then went into the woodland to the east. The mother bear was not seen. There are mulberry trees along the mountainside near here, and bears are sighted almost every year.
Kosaka, Akita
Municipal road / body length 1 m / 20 m from a private house / approximately 20 m from the witness. Saw a bear crossing the municipal road and moving north.
Kazuno Osarizawa, Akita
On private residential property / body length 1 m / 20 m from the house / 20 m from the witness. A bear was in the garden on the property. The bear wandered around while moving from west to east, then headed south.
Kazuno Osarizawa, Akita
While driving on the northbound lanes of the Tohoku Expressway, a witness saw a single bear about 50 centimeters long cross the expressway from east to west and then move into the brush on the west side.
Kazuno Towada-Nishikigi, Akita
While driving on the northbound lanes of the Tohoku Expressway near Hanawa Service Area, a vehicle occupant witnessed a bear about 50 centimeters in body length crossing from the northbound side over the center divider into the southbound lanes.
Kazuno, Akita
Municipal road / body length 70 cm / 5 m from a house / 10 m from the observer While driving on a municipal road, a bear emerged from the west side of the road. When the vehicle stopped and the observer watched, the bear returned to the west side.
Kazuno Hanawa, Akita
One bear was sighted in Nagabashiri-jinba, Odate City.
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
A nearby resident spotted one bear (body length 1.0 m) / heading north / approximately 20 m from the nearest house
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
[Post]
Kosaka, Akita
A bear was sighted in Kosaka-zawa, Kosaka Town.
Kosaka, Akita
Walking through the field
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
Around 7:00 PM on 2026-07-05, a bear was seen on camera in Ikarigaseki, Hirakawa City, Aomori Prefecture.
Hirakawa Ikarigaseki, Aomori
[Post]
Kosaka Daichi, Akita
Driver sighted one bear (body length 1.0 m) / direction of travel unknown / approximately 600 m to nearest facility
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
A driver witnessed a single bear (approximately 1.0 m in body length) crossing National Route 7 from the parking lot on the premises of Odate Yatate Heights and disappearing into the mountains. Direction of travel: south. Distance from the above facility: about 60 m.
Odate, Akita
Yoneshiro River riverbed / body length 1 m / 150 m from a residence / 50 m distance from witness While driving on a municipal road, the witness spotted a bear on the far bank of the river. The bear entered the brush.
Kazuno Osarizawa, Akita
On highway premises / body length 50 cm / 50 m from houses, 30 m from witness. While walking through the highway management property, the witness discovered a bear on the premises. The bear entered the brush from the property.
Kazuno Towada-Nishikigi, Akita
Sighted near a field. One cub. It was sitting on the road but, upon noticing the observer, fled westward.
Hirosaki, Aomori
Municipal road / body length 70 cm / 5 m from a residence / 15 m distance from the observer While driving a vehicle on a municipal road within the settlement, the observer sighted a bear running west.
Kazuno Towada-Kemanai, Akita
City road / body length 1 m / 5 m from a house / 5 m from the witness. While driving on a city road, the driver saw a bear running west across the road.
Kazuno Towada-Okada, Akita
Prefectural road / Body length 70 cm / 5 m from a private house / 5 m distance from the witness While driving a vehicle on the prefectural road, a bear ran out in front of the car. When the horn was sounded, the bear went into the brush to the east.
Kazuno, Akita
Field / Body length 70 cm / Distance from witness 30 m / 50 m from residences. While driving on a municipal road, the driver spotted a bear in the field.
Kazuno, Akita
Rice field / body length 1 m / 100 m from residence / 50 m from witness. While driving on the prefectural road in a vehicle, I spotted a bear in a rice field. The bear moved toward the river, so I chased it by vehicle while calling to fishermen to take refuge. After wandering along the river, the bear entered the forested hills to the west. I pursued it up to the edge of the forest.
Kazuno Towada-Kemanai, Akita
Report: On the town road west of the rice field at Kosaka 38, Kosaka-machi, a female/male adult bear about 1.2 meters long and one cub about 70 centimeters long were sighted. After that, the adult and cub entered the forested mountain area west of the town road. They are believed to have come up from the field road near Kosaka 38, climbed the roadside embankment below the town road, and emerged onto the town road. Sightings of bears are reported in this area, which is just south of the village cemetery, every year; this is the second sighting already this year. It is thought to be one of the travel routes used when moving between the forest on the east side of the Sunagosawa River and the forest on the west side.
Kosaka, Akita
A group of visitors walking along the trail at Nagabashiri Fūketsu Pavilion sighted one bear (approximately 80 cm in body length). Direction of travel: north. Approximately 30 m from the above facility.
Odate Nagabashiri, Akita
A bear was sighted in Kosaka Nigawa, Kosaka Town, Akita, around 11:15 on July 1.
Kosaka, Akita
[Post]
Kosaka, Akita
A bear was sighted in Ikadekankusuyoshi, Hirakawa City.
Hirakawa, Aomori
(Reference information) On private residential property / body length 80 cm / distance from witness 30 m / 10 m from house and other buildings. Reported to the city by e-mail. Situation unknown.
Kazuno Hanawa, Akita
[Post]
Kosaka Kosaka-kozan, Akita
A single bear (about 1 m in body length) was seen crossing National Route 7 and running off to the south.
Owani Kuradate, Aomori
One bear fled from the crematorium toward the mountain side near the Shukugawara tunnel in Owani, Owani Town.
Owani, Aomori
It ran away from the crematorium toward the area near the Yudagawa Tunnel (mountain side).
Owani, Aomori
[Report] A single bear about 1 meter long was on the ridge of a rice paddy at 39, Kakege, Kosaka, Kosaka Town. It ran toward the Suna kosawa River on the east side and went into the vegetation on the levee. It likely crossed the town road from the western forest, passed through the brush into the paddy, ran along the ridge, entered the brush on the right-bank levee of the Suna kosawa River, crossed the river, and moved from the eastern rice paddies back into the forest. The area around the sighting is one where bears and wild boars are seen crossing the stream every year, and it is also near the site of an encounter with a bear in May of this year that nearly resulted in personal injury.
Kosaka, Akita
While working in the apple orchard, a fairly large cub crossed the field from south to north.
Aomori, Aomori
Around 6:00 on 2026-06-30, one relatively large cub was seen crossing an apple orchard from south to north in Yoshinoda, Namioka, Aomori City.
Aomori, Aomori
A single bear about 50 centimeters long was observed on the highway embankment from a car traveling on the Tōhoku Expressway. The bear’s subsequent direction of movement is unknown.
Kazuno Hanawa, Akita
A bear was sighted in Hanawa Shimota Nyuuu, Kazuno City.
Kazuno, Akita
Prefectural road / body length 1 m / 300 m from a private house / approximately 50 m from the observer When driving on the prefectural road, saw a bear sitting on the road
Kazuno Osarizawa, Akita
A resident working nearby spotted one bear about 50 cm in body length on the farm road. When loud noises were made, the bear was seen leaving toward the forested area to the east.
Kazuno Hanawa, Akita
Observed from the roadside while driving from Yatate Pass toward Ōdate. It was heading into the mountains.
Odate, Akita
[Post] Crossing a national highway
Kazuno, Akita
Around 4:50 PM on June 26, one bear was seen moving in Hachimantai-Akabuchi, Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture.
Kazuno, Akita
An 80-centimeter-long bear was seen leaving from a small hill and heading southwest into nearby woods.
Kazuno, Akita
On the premises of a highway toll booth / body length about 50 cm / distance from witness 50 m / 50 m from the building. A bear about 50 cm long was seen from inside a building crossing the toll booth area from south to north and entering the brush on the north side.
Kazuno Towada-Nishikigi, Akita
Peak activity at 16:00 with 14 incidents
Ursus thibetanus japonicus
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In the past 30 days, 99 bear sightings were reported within 5 km of the route. The past 7 days account for 27 of them.
The latest sighting was reported 20 hours ago near Kazuno, Akita.
Recent sightings on this route peak around 16:00. Bears are generally most active at dawn and dusk.
This 125 km route runs from Hachimantai to Namioka Castle, passing through Iwate, Aomori, and Akita. In the past 30 days, 99 bear sightings were reported within 5 km of the route. The past 7 days account for 27 of them. The latest sighting was reported 20 hours ago near Kazuno, Akita. This is an active bear corridor. Rerouting or rescheduling your hike is strongly advised.
