A Japanese governor says he will ask for the military to help cull bears to protect locals amid a wave of attacks.
Government statistics state that at least nine people have been killed by bears in Japan since April this year, an annual record.
Dozens of other injuries have been reported across the country.
In the past week, Japanese media has reported a number of bear attacks, including people exercising in urban areas of Akita Prefecture, a northern mountainous area.
Another bear attacked four people before being found in a nearby house. None of the victims were seriously injured.
There has been some 8,000 bear sightings in Akita this year, a roughly six-fold increase on last year.
Akita Governor Kenta Suzuki took to social media on Sunday to discuss his plan, which he said would include requesting a military cull as early as Tuesday, local time.
"Exhaustion on the ground is reaching its limit," Mr Suzuki said in his Instagram post.
Akita officials have begun "distributing bear-repellent spray along school routes to ensure children's safety," he added.
A defence ministry spokesperson said she was unaware of any planned visit.
Rising bear numbers and depopulation in rural areas are increasingly bringing people into contact with bears.
Many encounters have occurred in towns and villages where the animals forage for food, sometimes entering homes, and on at least two occasions, supermarkets.
Japan's aging population also means it has too few qualified hunters to track down bears, which appear less fearful of humans than in the past.
This week, Japan's new environment minister Hirotaka Ishihara vowed to get tough on bears, calling the attacks "a serious problem".
"We are committed to further strengthening various measures including securing and training government hunters and managing the bear population," he said.
Local media has also reported advice on how people can protect themselves if they encounter a bear.
NHK Japan suggested people check maps that track bear sightings, carry bear spray and bells to distract the animals and clear their homes of any food that might attract them.
Some estimates put Japan's black bear population at some 44,000, three-times the number it was in 2012.
The animals, which can be found across much of the country, can weigh up to 140kg.
There are an estimated 12,000 brown bears on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.
Brown bears can weigh as much as 400kg.
The spate of attacks has prompted Japanese filmmakers to postpone the release of a horror movie with the same theme.
The film Brown Bear features an animal "attacking and eating" humans and was set to hit cinemas in November.
However producers have delayed its release, saying they "take seriously the fact that there have been a series of real-life attacks" in Japan.
ABC/wires
