Bear Enters Numata Supermarket, Injures Two

A bear entered the Fressay Numata Onda supermarket in Numata, Gunma Prefecture on Oct. 7, rampaging through fish and sushi cases, toppling produce and briefly lying on a customer while two men sustained scratch-like injuries, one of whom was hospitalized. A store manager said he was grabbed by the animal but was unhurt. Security camera footage and police described the bear as roughly 1.4 meters long; it fled south after about four minutes, and officers used patrol cars to warn nearby residents to stay indoors. Authorities said one victim was attacked inside the store and the other in the parking lot, and firefighters and police responded after a witness called at about 7:30 p.m. The incident adds to a recent spike in bear encounters in Japan, which experts link to changing food supplies, altered hibernation patterns and rural depopulation expanding bear ranges.