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This 26 km route runs from Koriyama to Inawashiro within Fukushima. In the past 30 days, 39 bear sightings were reported within 5 km of the route. The past 7 days account for 9 of them. The latest sighting was reported 2 days ago near Koriyama 湖南町舘, Fukushima.
This is an active bear corridor. Rerouting or rescheduling your hike is strongly advised.
On Monday, June 22 at about 12:30 p.m., on the Koriyama-Konan main prefectural road in Tachi, Kitabashime area, Konan Town, Koriyama City, a witness (male), while traveling by vehicle, saw one bear (approximately 1.5 m in body length) crossing the road from north to south and entering brush to the south.
Koriyama 湖南町舘, Fukushima
On Monday, June 22, at approximately 11:49 a.m., on the JR Ban'etsu West Line right-of-way within Goto, Sekito, Inawashiro Town, a train driver operating a train toward Aizuwakamatsu City collided with one bear (length unknown) that entered the right-of-way from the right. No injuries reported.
Inawashiro 大字金田, Fukushima
On Monday, June 22 at approximately 11:45 a.m., on the Koriyama-Konan Line (principal prefectural road) in Kitaboshime area, Tachi, Konan-machi, Koriyama City, a male witness driving observed one bear (about 1.5 m in body length) crossing the road from north to south and entering brush to the south.
Koriyama 湖南町舘, Fukushima
On June 21 (Sunday) at approximately 6:10 PM, near the 95.6-kilometer post on the outbound (Niigata-bound) lanes of the Ban-etsu Expressway in Mochida, Kawageta, Inawashiro Town, a driver in his 40s observed a bear approximately 1 meter in body length on the south side of the road while traveling on the Ban-etsu Expressway outbound (toward Niigata). The bear’s movements after being sighted are unknown.
Inawashiro 大字関都, Fukushima
On Sunday, June 21 at around 3:30 p.m., on the Banetsu West Line within Maeda, Sekito, Inawashiro Town, a train driver, while operating a train headed toward Aizuwakamatsu City, sighted one bear (approximately 50 cm in body length) on the track area. The bear then left into the woods on the west side.
Inawashiro 大字金田, Fukushima
Around 15:30 on 2026-06-21 in Sekito Maeda, Inawashiro Town, a JR Ban'etsu West Line train driver saw one bear about 0.5 m long inside the track area while operating the train.
Inawashiro 大字金田, Fukushima
One bear was seen leaving the roadside for the mountains in Hayama, Inawashiro Town.
Inawashiro 字葉山, Fukushima
On Saturday, June 20 at approximately 6:40 a.m., in the Hayama area of Inawashiro Town, beside a municipal road, a witness (male in his 60s) traveling eastbound by vehicle on the road observed one bear (approximately 80 cm in body length) on the left roadside walking off into the northern woodland.
Inawashiro 字大沢, Fukushima
On Thursday, June 18 at around 5:30 p.m., a bear about 1 meter long was sighted on the grounds of a resident’s home in Higashinakamura, Nagata, Inawashiro Town. The resident had been tending flowers in the garden when they spotted the bear on their property. The bear subsequently left, heading into the woods to the east.
Inawashiro 字堤西, Fukushima
On Tuesday, June 16, at approximately 6:06 p.m., near the 94.4-kilometer post on the downhill (eastbound) lanes of the Ban-etsu Expressway in Sekito, Inawashiro Town, a vehicle driver (male, in his 50s) traveling on the expressway toward Inawashiro spotted a bear crossing the highway from west to east. The bear, about 1 meter in body length, left the highway and went into the forested area on the east side of the expressway.
Inawashiro 大字関都, Fukushima
On Sunday, June 14 at approximately 1:43 p.m., near the 90.9 km post on the downhill lane of the Ban-etsu Expressway by 1684 Saka-ya, Tsuboyō, Inawashiro Town, a passenger car driven by a man in his 80s, while traveling in the first lane of the downhill direction, collided with a bear cub (about 50 cm in body length) that crossed from the right to the left side of the travel direction. The driver and passenger of the vehicle were not injured. The bear left the scene of the traffic accident.
Inawashiro 大字壺楊, Fukushima
On Friday, June 12 at around 5:00 p.m., on a municipal road in Kaminouchi, Iwanosato, Inawashiro Town, an eyewitness (female in her 80s) spotted one bear (approximately 1 m in length) crossing the municipal road from west to east while she was driving.
Inawashiro 字五十軒道南, Fukushima
On Friday, June 12, at around 8:00 a.m., a witness spotted one bear (approximately 1 m in body length) in the trees of a mulberry tree in a grove within a stand of mixed woods in Maehama, Tsuboyō, Inawashiro Town, to the west of the witness's residence.
Inawashiro 大字金田, Fukushima
On Friday, June 12 at approximately 7:50 a.m., in Inawashiro Town, Gorinbara area, on a municipal road, a witness driving south along the road observed one bear (about 1 m in body length) crossing the road from east to west and leaving into the forest.
Inawashiro 字五輪原, Fukushima
One bear was sighted crossing a town road and leaving into the forest in Gorinbara, Inawashiro Town.
Inawashiro 字五輪原, Fukushima
On Wednesday, June 10 at approximately 7:05 p.m., in the Hayama area of Inawashiro Town on a municipal road, a witness (male in his 50s) driving a vehicle saw one bear (about 1 m in body length) crossing the road from south to north.
Inawashiro 字高塚山, Fukushima
One bear crossed a town road in Hayama, Inawashiro Town.
Inawashiro 字葉山, Fukushima
On Wednesday, June 10 at approximately 6:05 p.m., on a town road in Tsuboyō Aza Minamihama, Inawashiro Town, a witness (male in his teens) driving a vehicle observed one bear (about 1 m in body length) crossing the town road from east to west.
Inawashiro 大字金田, Fukushima
On Wednesday, June 10, at approximately 5:17 p.m., a driver (male in his 30s) traveling on the outbound lanes of the Ban-etsu Expressway near the 87.6 km post in Kuradeyama, Asagojima, Atami-machi, Koriyama City, witnessed a bear (about 1 m in length) emerge from the central median into the south-side overtaking lane while proceeding toward the outbound (Inawashiro Town) direction. The bear then moved back into the northern central median.
Koriyama 熱海町中山, Fukushima
Around 07:15, one bear was standing on a pull-off along the main prefectural road Koriyama-Konan Line in Konanmachi Funatsu, Koriyama City.
Koriyama 湖南町舟津, Fukushima
On June 8 (Monday) at approximately 6:30 a.m., near the 94.0-kilometer post on the outbound lanes of the Ban-etsu Expressway within Nyorai-do area, Sekito, Inawashiro Town, a vehicle driver (female in her 50s) saw a bear about 1 meter in length crossing the expressway from west to east while traveling on the outbound lanes (toward Koriyama). The bear left into the forested area on the east side of the road.
Inawashiro 大字関都, Fukushima
On Sunday, June 7, at about 6:40 p.m., a resident of an apartment complex in Kaminomura-nishi, Inawashiro Town, witnessed four bears (body lengths unknown) that had been on the premises leave the area.
Inawashiro 字上村西, Fukushima
On Saturday, June 6 at about 7:20 p.m., in the mountainous area of Kyodo-yama, Tsuboyou, Inawashiro Town, on the Tsuboyou-Honmachi Prefectural Road, a witness (female in her 30s) saw two bears crossing the road from east to west (one approximately 1.5 m in length, the other about 1 m) while driving north on that road. Both bears subsequently left heading west.
Inawashiro 大字関都, Fukushima
On Saturday, June 6 at about 4:30 p.m., in a forested area of Gokudoyama in Tsuboyō, Inawashiro Town, a witness (female in her 60s) saw two bears in the woods east of Prefectural Route Tsuboyō-Honmachi while riding a bicycle southbound on that road. The two bears (about 1 m and about 50 cm in body length) then left the area, heading east into the forest.
Inawashiro 大字関都, Fukushima
On Saturday, June 6 at 1:45 p.m., a witness (male, in his 50s), while on duty at a private facility on the premises in Kawageta Aza Tennozaka, Inawashiro Town, spotted one bear (about 50 cm in body length) on the facility grounds. The bear then left heading south into the brush.
Inawashiro 大字八幡, Fukushima
On Friday, June 5 at approximately 1:45 PM, an elderly male witness in his 80s saw one bear (about 1 meter in body length) in the brush beside a town road in the Hayama area of Inawashiro Town. The bear then left eastward through the brush.
Inawashiro 字高塚山, Fukushima
A bear was seen in bushes beside a town road in Hayama, Inawashiro Town.
Inawashiro 字大沢, Fukushima
On Friday, June 5 at approximately 11:30 a.m., in the Towno-nishi area of Inawashiro Town, a witness (a man in his 70s) saw one bear (about 1 meter in length) in the bushes beside a municipal road when he went outside his home. The bear subsequently left on foot toward the forested area to the north.
Inawashiro 字中道, Fukushima
Around 10:55 a.m. on Friday, June 5, on the premises of a private facility in Yano-ki-sawa, Inawashiro Town, a facility staff member (female in her 70s) spotted a bear (about 1 m in body length) in a tree on the facility grounds while working indoors. The bear later climbed down from the tree and left toward the forested area to the east.
Inawashiro 字諏訪西, Fukushima
A bear was sighted in Machinishi, Inawashiro Town, Fukushima on 2026-06-05 morning.
Inawashiro 字町西, Fukushima
On Thursday, June 4 at about 7:15 a.m., on the prefectural road in Tsuboshita, Tsuboya, Inawashiro Town, a witness (female, in her 50s) saw two bears (both about 80 cm in body length) while driving. The bears then left the sighting area and went into the brush to the south.
Inawashiro 大字関都, Fukushima
On 2026-06-04, two bears were confirmed together on a prefectural road in Tsuboyanagi, Inawashiro Town.
Inawashiro 大字壺楊, Fukushima
Around 7:15 AM on June 4, a bear was sighted in Tsuboyohikoshita, Inawashiro Town.
Inawashiro 大字関都, Fukushima
Around 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, on the Inawashiro-Shiozawa main prefectural road in the Tsutsumi Higashi area of Inawashiro Town, a witness (male in his 30s) driving toward Fukushima City observed one bear (approximately 1 m in length) crossing the road from north to south. The bear then left into the grove of trees on the south side of the road.
Inawashiro 字上村前, Fukushima
At around 6:20 a.m. on Saturday, May 30, a witness (female) driving on National Route 49 in Tsuboyō, Inawashiro Town, spotted one bear (about 1 m in length) on the road. The bear left and went into the scrub forest on the west side of the highway.
Inawashiro 大字関都, Fukushima
In Oyaichi, Inawashiro Town, one bear about 0.8 meters long was seen in bushes on the riverbank, then crossed the Yonezawa-Inawashiro Line and left for the forest.
Inawashiro 字大谷地, Fukushima
On Wednesday, May 27 at about 12:55 p.m., a witness (man in his 30s) spotted one bear (about 80 cm in body length) in the riverbed (brush) in the Ooyachi area of Inawashiro Town. The bear then crossed the Yonezawa–Inawashiro Prefectural Route from the sighting location and left into the forested mountains to the northwest.
Inawashiro 字清水前, Fukushima
On Tuesday, May 26 at approximately 10:15 a.m., in the riverbed area of Otani-chi, Inawashiro Town, a witness (male in his 60s) who was working near the sighting location observed two bears in the riverside brush (body lengths about 1 m and about 60 cm). Both bears later left to the north.
Inawashiro 字大谷地, Fukushima
Two bears were in the riverside thicket at Ooyachi, Inawashiro Town.
Inawashiro 字大谷地, Fukushima
Peak activity at 18:00 with 5 incidents
Ursus thibetanus japonicus
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In the past 30 days, 39 bear sightings were reported within 5 km of the route. The past 7 days account for 9 of them.
The latest sighting was reported 2 days ago near Koriyama 湖南町舘, Fukushima.
Recent sightings on this route peak around 18:00. Bears are generally most active at dawn and dusk.
This 26 km route runs from Koriyama to Inawashiro within Fukushima. In the past 30 days, 39 bear sightings were reported within 5 km of the route. The past 7 days account for 9 of them. The latest sighting was reported 2 days ago near Koriyama 湖南町舘, Fukushima. This is an active bear corridor. Rerouting or rescheduling your hike is strongly advised.
