We visited Akita on December 6.

Reporter
We’re heading to the location where bear sightings were reported.

A black bear was reportedly spotted here about 30 minutes earlier.

Reporter
We heard a bear appeared in this area.

Resident
Yes, it did. It’s clearly captured on our camera.

I was cleaning the yard when a woman with her dog came and asked if she could take refuge here.

She showed us the footage from a security camera installed outside the house.

The time was 7:54 a.m. on December 6.

The video shows a person with a dog walking away from the camera.

A minute later, the person suddenly stopped.

That’s when a black creature crossed the road.

The person walking the dog then turned around and headed back.

She ran, glancing back repeatedly.

Then, a bear was seen running along the road.

It turned onto a side path.

The bear went down a slope and crossed the river to the other side.

Then it disappeared into a residential area.

Reporter
How is it seeing a bear in December?

Resident
I’ve lived here for 45 years, and it’s never happened before. We were taught that bears hibernate, so this is really shocking

Normally, December is the time when bears begin to hibernate.

But in Akita Prefecture, there have already been more than 140 bear sightings this month alone.

Will bears continue to appear in towns without hibernating?

We visited a zoo in Iwate Prefecture.

The zoo has two Asiatic black bears.

Zookeepers say the bears will soon begin hibernating.

They showed us the conditions under which bears start their hibernation.

Zookeeper
This is the sleeping enclosure for the Asiatic black bears.

Inside the dark enclosure were apples, carrots and other vegetables.

Food apparently holds the key to bear hibernation.

Zookeeper
We gradually reduce the amount of food and then stop feeding them once hibernation begins.

By creating a winter environment where food is scarce, the bears start to hibernate.

Zookeeper
If food is always available, hypothetically speaking, they can survive without hibernating.

When we looked around town, we found what appeared to be bear traces.

Reporter
Hibernation season has begun, but are bears still out?

Resident
This is the reason, the persimmons.

Reporter
They’re after these?

Resident
I think so. They came for these before.

An expert suggests bears may not hibernate because there is food available in town.

Yamauchi Kiyoshi, Associate Professor, Iwate University
When food is available, even if there’s some snow or the temperature drops, bears do not easily hibernate.

He warned that further caution is needed.

Yamauchi Kiyoshi, Associate Professor, Iwate University
Once the persimmons are gone, we fear they might enter homes and rummage around instead of hibernating.