Japanese tourist village battles to keep bears at bay

SHIRAKAWA, Japan >> Shiroki Mitsunari does not remember seeing bears in the picturesque Japanese mountain village of Shirakawa when he was a child.

But since a cub attacked a Spanish visitor there last month, protecting residents and the throngs of tourists, who flock to his home town to see its UNESCO-listed thatched-roof cottages, has been his top priority.

“There are a lot more bears coming,” said Mitsunari, 40, a local official overseeing efforts to deter bears in the village, located in a remote valley in central Japan, roughly halfway between Tokyo and Osaka. He attributed the surge to a growing bear population and a shortage of their natural food sources.

While the tourist escaped with minor injuries, authorities have captured six bears since then near the historic Shirakawa-go s