Gunma Resident Changes Routine After Multiple Bear Encounters
An American academic residing in Tokyo, Jeff Kingston, has stopped taking long walks in Gunma's hills due to numerous encounters with bears, leading him to carry deterrents when he does visit his lodge.
)
According to the South China Morning Post, Jeff Kingston, a foreign resident, has altered his routine of walking with his dogs across the hills of Gunma in central Japan, a practice he did not engage in this year. Kingston stated that over the years, he has encountered bears in those mountains more than 100 times and has been charged by aggressive bears approximately a dozen times. In 2014, a black bear attacked him across the skull with its claws, resulting in a gash that necessitated nine stitches. Kingston, who maintains a lodge in Gunma despite living in Tokyo, mentioned that he has deliberately avoided entering the hills this year to prevent any encounters. When he does visit, he reportedly carries bear spray and a baseball bat as precautions. This level of caution is noted by the South China Morning Post as mirroring a broader issue in Japan, where reports of bear encounters have increased recently, affecting both farmland and residential zones, prompting official warnings for people to exercise extra care as the animals prepare for winter.
)
)
)