Holiday Ayo - The surge in deadly bear attacks in Japan has not only sparked public concern. It has also given rise to an unexpected culinary trend: increased consumption of bear meat in several regions. 

The Japanese government recorded that at least 13 people died from bear attacks this fiscal year, the highest number in history. 

This situation has prompted local authorities to conduct a large-scale hunt to control the bear population, particularly in the northern region, as reported by AFP on Wednesday (December 24). 

Since then, bear meat, previously rarely consumed, has begun to be served in restaurants, especially in mountainous areas. 

In Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, Koji Suzuki (71), a restaurant owner and hunter, admitted to being overwhelmed by the surge in demand for bear meat. 

“As news about bears continues to increase, the number of customers wanting to eat them has also increased," Suzuki told AFP. 

Besides bear meat, he also serves other wild game such as deer and wild boar. Suzuki believes that serving bear meat in restaurants is a form of respect for the animals that have been hunted.

"As a way of respecting the bear's life, it's better to use the meat in a restaurant like this than to just bury it," Suzuki said. 

His wife, Chieko Suzuki (64), who co-manages the restaurant, revealed that she now often turns away customers due to insufficient meat, though she declined to elaborate on the increase in sales. 

One customer, Takaaki Kimura (28), a composer who was tasting bear meat for the first time, said he was impressed by the taste. 

In Aomori Prefecture, one of the areas with the highest number of bear attacks, Katsuhiko Kakuta (50), the manager of a village-owned restaurant, said the bear meat sold out earlier this month. 

“This menu has been popular since we started serving it in 2021, but this year, attention has increased dramatically, especially after an influencer posted about our restaurant," Kakuta said. 

In Sapporo, Hokkaido, French restaurant chef Kiyoshi Fujimoto is also capitalizing on the trend by serving brown bear meat. 

“I think it's good because it uses local ingredients," Fujimoto said. 

At his restaurant, a full meal featuring bear meat costs around US$70. Although not a daily menu item, bear meat has long been consumed in Japanese mountain villages.