Welcome to the Fun Friday edition of the Learn Japanese Pod podcast — the show where we sit down with cool people doing cool things in Japan. In this episode, I talk with Wes Lang about the recent rise in bear encounters and attacks across Japan: the latest stats, what’s causing them, and what Japan is doing to prevent future incidents.
We also dive into Wes’s long experience as a master hiker. He was the <a href="https://www.hikemasterjapan.com/hyakumeizan-interview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first American to complete the Hyakumeizan</a>, and he shares practical advice on how to prepare for the unlikely event of meeting a bear on the trail — including what to do, what not to do, and some useful bear-related vocabulary in Japanese.
I learned a lot from this interview with Wes, and I now feel slightly more prepared to go hiking — and hopefully avoid any battles with bears!
Wes is the creator of <a href="https://hikinginjapan.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hikinginjapan.com</a>, an authoritative resource with detailed information on hundreds of hikes and mountains across Japan. If you love hiking, Japanese nature, or just a good story, you won’t want to miss this one.

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