Photo/Illutration Mountains in Kamikitayama, Nara Prefecture (Nanami Watanabe)

KAMIKITAYAMA, Nara Prefecture--Emergency responders found the body of a man on a mountainside after receiving a report that he was attacked by a bear and then plunged off a cliff.

Police said they recovered the body of Etsushi Koyama, 46, a company employee in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on Dec. 15 and are investigating the cause of his death.

The other climber he was with at the time, a subordinate at his company, made an emergency call at 12:40 p.m. on Dec. 14, police said.

“My boss was attacked by a bear and fell off a cliff,” the man said.

But a blizzard prevented police and firefighters from starting their search until the next morning.

They found the body on a slope about 90 meters down a trail, roughly 300 meters from the summit of Mount Daifugendake, which straddles Kamikitayama village in Nara Prefecture and two other villages.

Police said the two had left Wasamata Hutte in Kamikitayama at around 7 a.m. on Dec. 14 and were climbing around Mount Daifugendake.

The subordinate explained to police that a bear struck Koyama and he fell about 30 meters down a mountain slope. Koyama suffered head injuries and lost consciousness.

The subordinate said he descended the mountain until his phone had reception and then reported the incident to police.

Bear sightings have been rising in Nara Prefecture recently.

There were 65 reports of bears between April and Dec. 14, according to the prefectural government’s wild animal control section. Last fiscal year, there were only 20 reports.

An app used by mountain climbers called “YAMAP” has also been receiving reports of bear sightings since the beginning of this year along various routes, including the one going from Wasamata Hutte to Mount Daifugendake.

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