Hokkaido is home to the Ussuri brown bear, and hiking trails across the island pass through its habitat. Bear spray can’t fly with you, so every visitor arrives needing a plan — where to rent or buy it, and what to do if an encounter happens. This site exists to answer exactly that, in English, sourced from official information.
What we cover
- Where to rent or buy bear spray, region by region — Shiretoko, Daisetsuzan, Asahikawa, Sapporo, Niseko, the Hokkaido East Trail, and more as we add them
- What official sources — national park offices, tourism associations, the Ministry of the Environment — actually say about bear encounters
- How to read Japanese-language bear activity sites, even if you don’t read Japanese
Who’s behind this
Bear Safety Hokkaido is written and maintained by the team behind Packraft Hokkaido, run by Yoshinori Shirafune, a former Hokkaido river guide. Field-based articles are noted as such; everything else is compiled from official sources — rental operators, retailers, and municipal visitor centers — and dated so you can judge how current it is.
Our approach
We’re not a park office, a rental business, or a booking agent. We don’t take rental fees or list availability we can’t verify. When we’re not certain about a detail, we say so and point you to where you can confirm it yourself. See our Disclaimer for the full picture, including how pricing and hours can change by season.
Questions or corrections
Found something out of date, or run a rental service we haven’t covered? Get in touch through our Contact page.