On Wednesday the Tokyo metropolitan government announced plans to use advanced technologies developed by startups to reduce the growing number of bear incursions in outlying parts of the city.

The government’s Environment Bureau said the metropolitan government would exchange opinions with startups to develop technologies for bear control and detection. Suggestions include developing an AI system that detects bears from camera footage, while another uses sound and light to scare them away.

Encounters with the country’s native Asian Black Bear have been growing country-wide since 2025, with sightings increasing in urban areas. Bear attacks have already left four dead and twenty-one injured since April this year.

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