Kyoto Warns Tourists About Bears in 4 Languages on Signs Throughout City

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:42 JST, November 30, 2025

KYOTO — The Kyoto city government has put up about 80 multilingual signs throughout the city to warn tourists and residents about bears, as the number of bear sightings in the city has increased.

A sign measuring 1.7 meters high and 45 centimeters wide has “Beware of bears” written on it in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. The sign, which features an illustration of an Asian black bear, urges people to crouch down and protect their head and neck with their arms when encountering a bear up close. It also has a QR code on it, which directs to a Kyoto prefectural government website on bear sightings.

The first sign was put up on Saturday in front of Sakyo Ward office’s Yase branch, where bear droppings had been found earlier this month.

A total of 112 reports of bear sightings and other bear-related information were provided to the city government between April and Nov. 25, up from 86 in the same period of the previous year.