Since the increase in deadly bear attacks in Japan, restaurants like Koji Suzuki’s in Chichibu, near Tokyo, have seen a rise in demand for bear meat. Suzuki serves the meat grilled on a stone or cooked with vegetables, sourced from bears culled to reduce incidents that have resulted in a record 13 deaths this year.
The restaurant also offers venison and wild boar, but bear has become more popular following widespread media coverage of bears entering homes, appearing near schools, and being spotted in supermarkets. “With the increase in news about bears, the number of customers wanting to eat their meat has grown a lot,” Suzuki told AFP. He added that using the meat at his restaurant is “better than burying it” as a sign of respect for the animal’s life.
Suzuki’s wife Chieko manages the restaurant and said they often have to turn away customers due to high demand but declined to specify how much business had increased.
One diner, composer Takaaki Kimura, tried bear meat for the first time and described it as “very juicy and, the more you chew it, the tastier it becomes.”
Authorities hope culling bears—some weighing up to half a ton and able to outrun humans—will reduce risks in northern Japan. The 13 deaths recorded so far this year double previous records with four months left in the fiscal year.
Scientists attribute the crisis to rapid growth in bear populations combined with rural depopulation and poor acorn harvests driving bears closer to human settlements. In response, military personnel have been deployed for logistical support during hunts and police units have been tasked with shooting bears. The number of culled bears has already surpassed last year’s total of 9,100 within just half of this fiscal year.
Bear meat has long been consumed in Japan’s mountain villages but remains uncommon nationally. The government hopes turning problematic wildlife into food can provide new income sources for rural areas. “It is important to turn nuisance wildlife into something positive,” stated the Ministry of Agriculture earlier this month.
Local governments will receive $118 million (18.4 billion yen) in subsidies for bear population control efforts and promoting sustainable consumption.
In Aomori—a region heavily affected by bear attacks—Katsuhiko Kakuta runs an eatery that sold out its supply early December. He noted increased attention after an influencer featured his restaurant: “It has been very popular since we started serving it in 2021, but this year our place received a lot of attention.”
In Sapporo on Hokkaido island, chef Kiyoshi Fujimoto uses local brown bear meat at his French restaurant where multi-course meals including bear consommé cost about $70. “I think it’s good to use locally sourced ingredients,” he told AFP. “Now there are more people who want to try it and I’ve been stocking up to take advantage of this opportunity.” He added: “Most people who try it say it’s delicious.”
Brown bears are found only on Hokkaido where their numbers doubled over three decades to more than 11,500 by 2023; Japanese black bears are widespread elsewhere.
Last year, authorities removed protections from both species by adding them to regulated animals lists after previous measures had allowed populations to rebound significantly.
Despite these efforts much of the harvested meat goes unused due partly to limited processing facilities approved by regulators; while there are 826 slaughterhouses nationwide few are located in hard-hit northern prefectures.
Kakuta’s establishment processes its own cuts and supplies nearby hotels: “We use something that would otherwise go into the trash.”
