Photo/Illutration Katsumi Sasazaki, middle, serves as a professional wrestling referee on Sept. 10, 2022, in Chiba Prefecture. (Provided by Hideo Arai)

KITAKAMI, Iwate Prefecture—A search party on Oct. 17 found a severely mutilated body believed to be a hot spring inn worker who was attacked by a bear while cleaning an outdoor bath.

The search and rescue team shot and killed an adult male Asiatic black bear about 1.5 meters tall near the wooded area in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, where the body was found.

The 60-year-old worker was cleaning the “roten-buro” outdoor bath at Semi Onsen, a single-inn hot spring resort along the Getogawa river, by himself from around 10 a.m. on Oct. 16.

The inn’s manager noticed the worker was missing and contacted the Kitakami Police Station at around 11:15 a.m.

When officers arrived, they found cleaning tools and the man’s glasses and slippers scattered around the outdoor bath. Animal fur was also discovered, as well as smeared bloodstains.

The outdoor bath is located on a cliff a few meters above the Getogawa river and is enclosed by a 1-meter-high fence. Bloodstains were also found outside the fence.

The missing worker was identified as Katsumi Sasazaki, who had a long career as a referee for various professional wrestling organizations.

Believing Sasazaki had been attacked by a bear, Iwate prefectural police, along with city officials and a local hunters’ association, began a search with a team of about 30 people at 3 p.m.

However, they were forced to suspend the search after just over 30 minutes due to bad weather.

From the morning of Oct. 17, the search resumed with a team of about 40 people.

At around 9 a.m., the body was discovered in a wooded area on the opposite bank of the Getogawa river, about 50 meters northwest of the hot spring inn.

Known as “Katsumi Tiger,” the stocky Sasazaki had refereed for a women’s professional wrestling organization until recently and also worked as a bus driver transporting the wrestlers, according to Hideo Arai, 67, president of a Yokohama-based entertainment production company.

“As a renowned referee, he was a pillar of many ring events,” Arai said. “He had a gentle personality and approached matches with a sincere attitude. I knew he had retired and was working at a hot spring, but how could this happen?”

On Oct. 8, another man was found dead in a mountain forest about 2 kilometers west of the Semi Onsen site. He was picking mushrooms when he was apparently attacked by a bear.

Prefectural police and the city are investigating whether the same bear was responsible for both attacks.

(This article was written by Tsuyoshi Nagano and Tatsuro Sakata.)

 

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