(Web Desk) - Japan is in the grip of a terrifying bear crisis – with soldiers now being called in to help tackle an unprecedented wave of fatal attacks.
The latest victim, 79-year-old Kiyo Goto, was found dead in a forested mountain area of Akita Prefecture on Monday morning.
Police believe she was mauled to death while out picking mushrooms – a common pastime in the region.
Goto, who lived near the mountains, had phoned her family on Sunday morning to say she was heading out.
When she failed to return by the evening, relatives grew worried and contacted the police.
Her body was discovered at around 9 a.m. the following day with her face so badly injured that officers immediately suspected a bear attack.
The tragedy is the latest in a series of horrific maulings that have left Japan reeling.
This year alone, ten people – excluding Kiyo Goto – have been killed and more than 100 injured by rampaging bears across the country.
Victims have been savaged outside schools, at bus stops, and even inside supermarkets.
One man’s head was ripped clean off in a gruesome attack, while others have been left mutilated and dismembered.
The crisis has become so severe that Akita Governor Kenta Suzuki has begged for military assistance.
“The exhaustion on the ground is reaching its limit,” he warned in a desperate Instagram post on Sunday.
He said he planned to visit Japan’s defence ministry as soon as Tuesday to personally request help with a bear cull.
A defence ministry spokesperson confirmed: “She was unaware of any planned visit.”
Governor Suzuki’s plea comes as Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) would provide logistical support – including transporting and disposing of culled bears.
Under Japanese law, the SDF cannot shoot bears directly, but they can assist local hunters on the ground.
Akita, located in Japan’s northern Honshu Island, has been one of the hardest-hit areas.
The region is home to Asian black bears, while brown bears roam the northern island of Hokkaido, according to the Environment Ministry.
On Friday, a group attack in Akita left one man dead and three others hospitalised.
Police discovered the body near a farm after receiving emergency calls about a bear rampage in the mountains.
Just hours earlier, in Toyama Prefecture, a woman in her 70s was also injured in another bear assault.
In northern Iwate Prefecture, 60-year-old Katsumi Sasazaki went missing while cleaning an outdoor bath.
Investigators later found human blood and bear fur at the scene.
Another man in his 70s was found decapitated, his body covered in claw marks and his limbs shredded, also in Iwate.
In Nagano Prefecture, a 78-year-old man was discovered dead last month – his body bearing multiple claw wounds.
The government has vowed to take tough new measures to curb the carnage.