Three official, near-daily-updated sources track brown bear activity across Hokkaido’s most-hiked mountain ranges. Only one of them has an English version, so most visitors never find any of them. Here’s what each one covers and how to read it before you hike.
Daisetsuzan: caution levels by mountain
The Daisetsuzan National Park Office runs daisetsu-brownbear.com, a site dedicated to collecting and centralizing bear caution information across the whole Daisetsuzan mountain area. It’s organized by peak — Asahidake, Kurodake, Tomuraushi, and dozens of others — and each one carries a caution level:
- Level 1 — baseline; bears are present in the area, no unusual recent activity
- Level 2 — elevated; recent sightings or signs warrant extra caution
- Level 3 — high; recent close encounters or aggressive behaviour reported
- 評価なし (unrated) — not enough recent data to assign a level
Below the level map, the site keeps a running log of individual reports, each tagged by type: 目撃 (sighting), 糞 (scat found), 近距離遭遇 (close encounter), and ブラフチャージ (bluff charge — a bear making a fast, aggressive approach that stops short of contact). As of late August 2026, the log was updating every few days, with several close-encounter reports clustered around Midoridake.
Before a Daisetsuzan hike, check the caution level for your specific route — not just the general area. Levels vary a lot between neighbouring peaks.
→ daisetsu-brownbear.com: https://www.daisetsu-brownbear.com/
Shiretoko: encounter tracking and rental info
The Shiretoko Nature Foundation runs brownbear.shiretoko.or.jp, which tracks cumulative encounter statistics for the year (646 recorded encounters as of mid-August 2026) alongside safety guidance and background on the park’s bear management approach.
This is also the site behind the official bear spray rental information we used for our Shiretoko rental guide — rates, hours, and eligibility all trace back to this foundation.
→ brownbear.shiretoko.or.jp: https://brownbear.shiretoko.or.jp/
Asahidake Visitor Center: the one with an English page
Unlike the two sites above, the Asahidake Visitor Center — the official facility for Mt. Asahidake and Mt. Kurodake, run under Daisetsuzan National Park — publishes its bear warning page directly in English, updated as sightings come in. Each entry lists the date, time, location on the trail, and what happened, down to specifics like how many bears, how far from the trail, and which direction they moved. A July 2026 entry even records a hiker successfully using bear spray on an approaching bear.
The Visitor Center also rents general hiking and winter gear (snowshoes, ski poles, a Coco Heli rescue beacon), but not bear spray — for that, see our guide to renting bear spray in Asahikawa.
→ Asahidake Visitor Center, bear information: https://www.asahidake-vc-2291.jp/foreign/%E3%80%90warning%E3%80%91brown-bear-information%E3%80%902026%E3%80%9130th-april-updated/
Reading them without Japanese
The Asahidake Visitor Center’s page needs no translation. For the other two, a browser’s built-in translation feature (Chrome and Safari both offer one) will get you through the caution-level maps and most log entries — the vocabulary is fairly repetitive once you know the core terms above. For anything time-sensitive or unclear, translating a screenshot is usually faster than trying to parse the page structure.
This article explains how to use three official, independently operated sites — it is not affiliated with the Daisetsuzan National Park Office, the Shiretoko Nature Foundation, or the Asahidake Visitor Center. Always check the current information on their sites directly before your trip; conditions can change daily.
Related Reading
→ Bear Safety in Hokkaido: Complete Guide for Hikers: https://bearsafetyhokkaido.site/bear-safety-in-hokkaido-complete-guide-for-hikers/ → Shiretoko’s Four Bear Spray Rental Counters, Compared: https://bearsafetyhokkaido.site/shiretokos-four-bear-spray-rental-counters-compared/ → Where to Rent Bear Spray in Asahikawa Before You Hike Asahidake: https://bearsafetyhokkaido.site/where-to-rent-bear-spray-in-asahikawa-before-you-hike-asahidake/
SEO Title: How to Read Hokkaido's Official Bear Activity Sites (2026)
Meta Description: Three official sites track bear activity across Hokkaido's mountains — one already in English. Here's how to read the caution levels and reports.
Category: Encounter & Field Knowledge Tags: Daisetsuzan, Shiretoko, Asahidake, bear activity, hiking safety
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