they have both sorts of bear in Japan, including the larger brown bear.
The brown bear is the largest terrestrial mammal in Japan, living in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. The Ainu, native people of Hokkaido, respected brown bears and co-existed with them. However, the Japanese are afraid of bears because they believe the bears pose a threat to human lives and properties
TBH most sensible people are afraid of bears as they are often bigger than us and even small ones have big claws!
the sign the dude is looking at translates as
CAUTION! The bear infest. now!
(he was one of the three dudes what made a Toyota Hiace pickup into a Transformers-style mobile Japanese house)
when some new staff came to Needham Market from Romania we had to convince them there are no bears in Mid Suffolk, as it was apparently the “right sort of area for them” (they refused to go out alone into the countryside until they were satisfied no bears were around!)
