TOKYO (AFP) - A bull has gored to death a 40-year-old man in southern Japan just a month after attacking his father and breaking the older man's ribs, police and a report said Wednesday.

Owner Rikiya Tomi was set upon as he tried to show the huge animal to friends on the southern islet of Tokunoshima, broadcaster NHK said.

The 1,100 kg beast speared him in the chest as he tried to entice it from the ring. He was confirmed dead at a hospital two hours later, police said.

The bull attacked Mr Tomi's father early last month, breaking a number of ribs, Kyodo News reported, citing an association overseeing the island's bullfighting industry.

Tokunoshima, a small sub-tropical island off the southern Kyushu coast, is famed in Japan for its bull-on-bull fights, which have a tradition stretching back several hundred years.

The incident came ahead of the opening of the island's bull-fighting competition during the Golden Week holidays, which start at the end of this week and are expected to draw thousands of visitors.