5th at last year's National High School Ekiden boys' race, Fukushima's Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. has withdrawn its boys' and girls' team from the Nov. 6 Tohoku Region Ekiden Championships in Fukushima. A school spokesperson commented, "We made this decision based on the likelihood of our students coming into contact with bears in the city when out running in the morning."
The Akita Athletics Association had already made an announcement on its website on Oct. 31 that due to the high number of bear encounters within the city of Akita this year, the ekiden would be held on a track instead of as a road race. Organizers said that they are leaving it up to each individual school whether to participate, and that they will accept schools choosing not to participate due to safety concerns.
Here's a better idea. Control the bears. Trap them, relocate them, etc.
The bears should not be allowed to become such a nuisance that you can't hold a high school xc season.
The bears are searching for food. They need to eat so they can live. Ekiden running isn't necessary to live. It's just a sport. The bears' need to eat is more important than a sport.
The bears are searching for food. They need to eat so they can live. Ekiden running isn't necessary to live. It's just a sport. The bears' need to eat is more important than a sport.
the Japanese have live for thousands of years around these bears, and now they forget how to handle them? Give those runners spears and swords and they will be okay.
Even bamboo staffs would work, considering how many of them there are. Bear won't stand a chance against a flurry of sticks.
They act like their ancient martial arts was so great, then they cry about bears
my mining colleague had to kill 18 bears at camps thu the years, including a grizzley bear that invaded his ranch, and killed him two yards away. that grizzley had injured a few people prior, and grizz invasion of the islands off vancouver island wiped out most of the larger wild life, nearly completely.
shoot the bears that invade the town. they will learn.
leave the bears alone otherwise.
in the north, this is a game of life and death, and its a thing.
one grizzly? You must have been so skeert up there in your great white north
we are talking about Asian black bears here, not NA black bears. Get a tambourine and you can scare those off no problem
Early in the morning, Saitō Ishigorō and Miyoke Yasutarō left the village on errands. Meanwhile, a thirty-man search party was organized to capture the brown bear and recover the remains of Mayu. Entering the forest no more than 150 metres (160 yd), it met the bear. Five men shot, but only one managed to land a hit. The enraged animal retreated, and the men escaped injury. After the bear fled, the hunters scouted the area and discovered dried blood on the snow at the base of a Sakhalin fir tree. Beneath the snow was the corpse of Mayu with only the head and parts of the legs remaining. The bear had stashed the body of Mayu in the snow in an attempt to preserve it, as well as to hide it from scavengers: proof it was this brown bear in the attack. Return to the Ōta farm The villagers believed that once the bear had a taste for human flesh, its return to the settlement was assured. Villagers gathered at the Ōta family's home with guns. Around 8:00 p.m. that night, the bear reappeared. Although the villagers had anticipated the bear's return, they were nonetheless panicked by it. One man did manage to shoot at the bear. By the time the corps of 50 guardsmen posted 300 metres (330 yd) away at the neighboring Miyoke house arrived, the bear had vanished into the woods. The corps reassembled and headed downstream on what was thought to be the bear's trail. Miyouke family When news of the Ōta family attack was first received by the Miyouke family, women and children sought refuge there while guardsmen patrolled outside. The guardsmen were having dinner when news of the bear's return to the Ōta farm reached them, and they marched off. The bear, having escaped death at the Ōta house, now fled to the Miyouke homestead. Yayo, Miyouke Yasutarō's wife, was preparing a late meal while carrying her fourth son, Umekichi, on her back. She heard a rumbling noise outside, but before she could investigate, the bear broke through a window and entered the house. The cooking pot on the hearth overturned, dousing the flames, and in the ensuing panic the oil lamp was extinguished, plunging the house into darkness. Yayo tried to flee the house, but her second son, Yūjirō, clung to her legs, tripping her as she ran. The bear attacked her and bit Umekichi. Odo had remained at the house as the only bodyguard. When he ran for the door, the bear released the mother and child to pursue him. Yayo then escaped with her children. Odo attempted to hide behind furniture but was clawed in the back. The bear then mauled Kinzō, the third son of the Miyouke family, and Haruyoshi, the fourth son of the Saito family, killing them, and bit Iwao, the third son of the Saitō family. Next to be targeted was Take, Saitō Ishigorō's pregnant wife. She too was attacked, killed, and eaten. From later testimony, villagers heard Take begging the bear not to touch her belly but instead to eat her head. The guardsmen who had tracked the bear downriver realized that they were not, in fact, on its trail. As they hurried back to the settlement, a seriously injured Yayo met them and related news of the attack at the Miyouke family's house. The corps raced there to rescue any survivors. When they arrived, the house was dark but sounds of an attack emerged. Believing that the bear had killed everyone inside, some of the guardsmen proposed setting the house on fire. Yayo, hoping that some of the children still lived, forbade this. The guardsmen were divided into two groups: one, consisting of ten men, stood guard at the door while the other group went to the back of the house. When given a signal, the group at the rear set up a racket, shouting and rattling their weapons. As expected, the bear appeared at the front door. The men there had bunched up, with lines of fire blocked by the guard at their head, whose own rifle misfired. Amid the general confusion and risk of crossfire, the bear escaped into the night. Carrying torches made of birch bark, they entered the house and beheld the results of the attack. Rikizō and Hisano, first son and daughter of the same relatives, were injured but lived. The village people gathered in the school, and seriously injured people were accommodated in the Tsuji family house near the river. After the incident, only veterans of the Russo-Japanese War remained at their posts.
