Restaurants, bars in Japan’s Tohoku region feel impact of bear attacks amid cancelled reservations

AKITA/MORIOKA – Restaurants and bars in Japan’s Tohoku region are feeling the impact of the recent bear attacks, as people have been cancelling their reservations ahead of the year-end party season.

The usually packed streets in Akita and other prefectures have been quiet, alcohol beverage sales have declined and those in the restaurant and bar business are worried about facing financial hardships similar to that which they faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Local governments have established business advisory services to support restaurant, bar and other business operators who are likely to be affected by the bear attacks.

“Bears could be anywhere now,” said Mr Satoshi Sato, 66, secretary-general of an association of 55 restaurants and other businesses in Akita city’s Kawabata entertainment district.

“Customers started staying away, and they’re cancelling their reservations one after another,” he added.

According to Akita prefecture’s website on sightings of wildlife, 1,936 bear were seen in the city in October and 1,435 in November, a sharp increase compared to the summer months when bear sightings were in the hundreds. Bears have already been spotted in December as well.

According to Mr Sato, more people are choosing not to go out in the city at night or skipping after-parties. Some establishments have started closing earlier or changed their automatic doors to manual ones to prevent bears from entering.

“Both customers and employees are really scared of bears,” Mr Sato said.

“People might think that it’s just another good reason to not go out to eat and drink, as things are getting more expensive anyway,” he added.

At Akita city’s Eiyu, which supplies alcoholic beverages to many restaurants and bars in the prefecture, sales since late September have dropped about 10 per cent compared with the same period in 2024.

“Shop owners are worried that the situation is similar to the one they faced during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Eiyu President Kazumi Tomino, 52, said.

Mr Shiro Watanabe, 77, who runs six restaurants and bars in Morioka, said he hopes that things will not drag on, as December is the busy season.

A bear was seen several times around one of his establishments in central Morioka from October to November.

The number of customers at his businesses has significantly dropped since October, with sales falling more than 30 per cent, Mr Watanabe said.

“Although the business finally overcame the effects of the pandemic, we now have bears,” he said.

The Akita prefectural government created a business advisory service in mid-November to support such businesses as restaurants, bars and tourism-related businesses whose sales have declined as a result of the bear attacks.

The prefectural government said it has already received such inquiries and requests as whether there is a system to support the businesses and that they want the local government to consider subsidies to cover the cost of businesses having to close.

The Yamagata prefectural government has also set up support services to advise businesses about management and financing.

“Some businesses are dealing with operational difficulties,” said an official of the prefecture’s commercial promotion and management support division.

“We want to help them by introducing assistance programmes based on their individual situations.” THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK