KITA-AKITA, Akita Prefecture—Keiji Minatoya saw part of his own skull reflected back at him in a mirror after he was finally able to escape from a bear mauling him just outside his home.

It was two years ago when the bear launched itself at the local confectionery shop owner here, ripping flesh from his head and biting off part of his right ear.

The now-68-year-old was hospitalized for eight days and underwent surgery that left him with 30 head stitches. 

Minatoya found out he not only escaped the bear but also blindness in his left eye by a scant 5 millimeters. But damage to a tear duct means the eye is constantly watering.

While the scars have become less noticeable, he feels a constant tingling pain as if the skin on his head is being pulled taut, and his right ear still hurts. 

The bear honing in on Minatoya’s face may not have been random chance. Researchers have found a possible correlation between how bears attack humans and how the animals fight with their own species.

SEVERITY DOWNPLAYED

Professor Hajime Nakae at Akita University’s Advanced Emergency and Critical Care Center and other researchers analyzed cases involving 20 bear attack victims treated at the center in 2023.

The study found that bears tend to target the human face when they attack, with 90 percent of victims suffering facial injuries.

Many are left with lifelong physical and psychological scars.

“Injuries from bear attacks are so horrific they can change a person’s life forever,” Nakae said.

Minatoya was making sweets in a workshop on his property on the morning of Oct. 19, 2023, when he heard a scream shortly after 7 a.m.

A high school girl had been attacked by a bear on her way to school. Minatoya closed the shutter door of his garage as a precaution. 

Right as he opened the garage door two and a half hours later to go out, there was a large Asiatic black bear standing right in front of him. Stunned, they stared at each other for two or three seconds.

The moment he thought, “I am done for,” Minatoya sprinted toward his house at full speed, but before he knew it, the bear overtook him and toppled him.

The man instinctively raised his arms to shield his face, but the bear growled loudly and clawed at his face and back, persistently trying to bite his ears.

“This bear is going to kill me,” he thought while trying to endure the relentless attack.

After what felt like two or three minutes, the bear suddenly stopped moving. Thinking “now is my chance,” Minatoya dashed into his workshop, locking the door behind him.

“Call an ambulance!” he shouted to his wife, who was in their house across the way. He was later airlifted by a medical helicopter to a hospital in the prefectural capital of Akita.

His wife, shocked by her husband’s appearance right after the attack, pleaded with him to give up the business, saying, “I am too scared to open the shop anymore.”

The confectionery shop, which is over a century old, has since remained closed.

According to Nakae, bear attack injuries are often assessed as relatively minor, and media reports generally describe the surviving victims’ injuries as “not life-threatening.”

An Asahi Shimbun article about the attack on Minatoya said that the bear “scratched” him on the head and abdomen.

“Most people probably think it is not a big deal when reports say someone’s “life is not in danger,” Mintoya said. “But if the true terror of a bear attack is not widely understood, that is really dangerous.”

The research by Nakae’s team was published this year in the book “Kuma Gaisho” (Bear injuries). The cases they studied revealed injuries were concentrated on the upper body.

Ninety percent of the victims suffered injuries to the face, 70 percent had wounds on their upper limbs and 60 percent on the head.

Facial injuries can lead to blindness from a ruptured eyeball and severely affect quality of life. Neck injuries carry risks of death from blood loss or suffocation.

According to the research, one case involved a man in his 70s who was attacked on a road. A chunk of skin torn from his face was left lying nearby.

Rescue workers recovered this area of skin that had covered his nose to cheeks, and surgeons were able to reattach it under general anesthesia.

However, damage to the muscles around his eye caused double vision, forcing the man to wear an eye patch in daily life.

When an Asiatic black bear, which stands about 1.5 meters tall, rears up to intimidate an opponent, its forelegs are around the level of a human face.

Nakae explained that bears try to suffocate each other in fights by biting their opponent’s mouth, meaning humans’ faces are also likely to be targeted.

He said bears attack not to eat humans but to escape; the animals charge at 40 to 50 kph, first striking with their claws.

“The resulting wounds are deep and complex, combining blunt trauma, like being hit by a moving car, and sharp trauma, like being stabbed with a knife,” Nakae said.

Psychological aftereffects are also common.

The study by Nakae’s team found that about 80 percent of victims experienced some form of mental health issue, such as insomnia found in about 40 percent, and delirium, or a state of confusion, in about 30 percent.

WHAT TO DO IF ATTACKED

If you encounter a bear, Nakae advises lying facedown and clasping your hands behind your neck to protect your carotid artery and trachea.

It is generally recommended to avoid eye contact and slowly back away without turning your back on the bear, but the animal may panic in a sudden encounter.

Nakae explained that once the bear realizes you are not fighting back, it will leave in two to three minutes. “Try to hold out until the bear’s presence disappears,” he said.

He recommends avoiding walking through the mountains unnecessarily or foraging for wild vegetables and mushrooms. Wearing a protective cap and aramid-fiber work gloves resistant to cuts is also a must when trekking into nature.

Nakae has treated more than 100 bear attack victims over the past 30 years. He said there are an increasing number of cases in which bears accustomed to humans attack their faces when they encounter people in urban areas.

“As ‘satoyama’ (rural woodlands between villages and mountains) disappear, it is crucial for humans to avoid entering bear habitats as much as possible,” he said.

“People need to imagine how severe the wounds can be when they are attacked. I believe society as a whole must start thinking about reducing the harm bears cause.”