Photography

Photos: A Bear-Emergency-Response Drill in Japan

With a recent increase in bear sightings and incidents in rural Japan, local communities are taking steps to prepare for such encounters. In the small city of Yaita, officials and residents worked together recently to practice their bear-emergency response, acting out a simulation on the campus of a primary school.

By Alan Taylor
A man in a bear mask and dark clothing crawls in front of a goat pen during a simulated bear emergency.
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
A man in a bear costume takes part in an emergency-response drill simulating a bear intrusion in Yaita, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, June 17, 2026.
Hunters wearing hi-viz vests look at a map and diagram.
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
Hunters look at a map and diagram while taking part in a bear-emergency-response drill in Yaita on June 17, 2026.
A man in a bear mask and dark clothing, on all fours, near a path
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
A man wearing a bear costume takes part in a bear-emergency-response drill in Yaita.
A person sprays a canister of bear spray.
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
A participant deploys bear spray during the drill.
A view of several hunters and government workers in a bank of windows, looking outside, seen over the head of someone in a bear mask, in the foreground
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
The simulated bear looks up toward hunters inside a school building.
A hunter points a rifle through an open window, with a police officer watching nearby.
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
A hunter prepares to take a simulated shot at the fake bear.
A man in a bear mask and dark clothing lies face-down on the ground, playing dead.
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
The simulated bear is down.
Two hunters and a police officer approach a man in a bear costume who pretends to be dead.
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
Hunters and a police officer practice their approach while poking the simulated bear.
A man wearing a bear costume lies facedown on the ground, playing dead.
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
A man wearing a bear costume lies on the ground, playing dead after a simulated hunt during a bear-emergency-response drill in Yaita, Japan, on June 17, 2026.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.
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