KANAGAWA –
A person in his 40s was injured after being attacked by a troop of untamed monkeys in Yugawara, a well-liked sizzling spring resort city in Kanagawa Prefecture, on September 17, marking the realm’s first reported case of an individual being bitten by a monkey and prompting authorities to strengthen monitoring of the animals utilizing GPS monitoring units.
The man, an area resident, suffered minor accidents and was taken to hospital by ambulance. The incident has heightened considerations about more and more aggressive Japanese macaques which have turn into accustomed to dwelling close to folks, with residents reporting 1000’s of incidents involving monkeys and native companies warning of potential injury to tourism.
Wild monkeys have turn into a well-known sight in Yugawara, one of many Kanto area’s best-known sizzling spring locations. At round 4 p.m. on October 5, monkeys had been noticed climbing onto the roofs of homes and transferring by means of thick woodland close to residential areas.
Footage recorded in June 2026 confirmed monkeys rising one after one other from beside a constructing, together with younger animals accompanying the adults. The troop crossed roads with out hesitation, climbed onto residential partitions and appeared undisturbed even when an ambulance handed with its siren sounding. Some monkeys stopped beside the street to groom each other.
Yukinori Aihara, proprietor of Beer Stand Kadoya within the sizzling spring district, mentioned the doorway to the resort space had turn into an everyday route for the animals. “This is right at the entrance to the hot spring district. It’s become a passageway for the monkeys. They usually appear around 2 p.m., or sometimes as late as 4 p.m.,” he mentioned.
The animals belong to a troop generally known as the T1 group, consisting of roughly 20 monkeys that recurrently enter the city.
According to the Yugawara municipal authorities, 6,054 incidents involving monkeys had been reported throughout 2025, illustrating the dimensions of the disruption to on a regular basis life.
One of the affected properties is a shared home within the city, the place monkeys have been noticed transferring alongside electrical wires and balcony railings. Some have tried to lunge at canine contained in the constructing by means of closed home windows, whereas others have managed to enter the premises.
The monkeys had been once more seen within the sizzling spring district on September 18, crossing roads regardless of passing autos and displaying little worry of human exercise. The sighting got here simply at some point after the assault on the native man.
Residents in neighboring Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, have additionally skilled repeated issues.
One man mentioned monkeys incessantly broken his vegetable crops. “They go after the eggplants, cucumbers and tomatoes all the time,” he mentioned, explaining that he had put in protecting measures round a shed subsequent to his area.
Another resident mentioned he had reluctantly reduce down a peach tree he had been cultivating as a result of it attracted monkeys. He additionally carried a home made slingshot to drive the animals away.
The drawback is extending past residential neighborhoods and farmland into the native tourism business.
At Mikanya Yugawara Mongawa Agri Park, a mandarin orange farm getting ready to welcome guests for its fruit-picking season in November, operators are involved that experiences of aggressive monkeys might discourage vacationers.
The farm expects practically 200 guests on busy holidays in the course of the season.
Miho Takasugi, a consultant of the farm, mentioned some prospects had already expressed concern concerning the animals. “Customers are genuinely worried about the monkeys, and we’re concerned about the damage to tourism caused by the negative publicity,” she mentioned.
According to the Kanagawa prefectural authorities, Japanese macaques are believed to have established themselves close to Yugawara’s sizzling spring district round 1955. Their presence has due to this fact been a longstanding characteristic of the native surroundings, though rising contact with folks has created new challenges.
Experts say the September assault might have resulted from an encounter during which the monkeys perceived a menace or turned agitated.
Seiga Miki, head of Saru Taisakusho, a company specializing in monkey countermeasures, prompt that some specific motion or circumstance might have triggered the animals’ aggression.
Miki warned that locations equivalent to Yugawara, the place monkeys and people incessantly come into shut contact, require specific warning as a result of the animals have turn into more and more comfy round folks.
Another issue complicating the issue is the rising variety of vacant homes in communities experiencing inhabitants decline and getting older.
Monkeys ordinarily sleep in cedar timber or different timber with dense foliage, selecting areas the place they’ll stay hidden from predators.
However, deserted residential buildings might present an equally enticing various.
Miki prompt that vacant homes might be functioning as sheltered sleeping locations, providing safety from rain, wind and potential threats.
The Yugawara municipal authorities has obtained experiences from residents who say they’ve seen monkeys getting into and leaving unoccupied properties, notably in areas close to the border between Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures.
In fiscal 2024, Yugawara had 433 vacant homes, accounting for six.5% of the city’s housing stock. The quantity has continued to extend.
Miki mentioned the monkeys might have discovered that vacant homes present a protected and cozy surroundings. Once the animals acknowledge such properties as safe shelters, they’re more likely to return repeatedly, making it tougher to drive them away from residential areas.
With considerations mounting over public security and the city’s repute as a vacationer vacation spot, native authorities have begun strengthening their administration of the troop.
Working with the Kanagawa prefectural authorities, Yugawara has efficiently fitted GPS monitoring units across the necks of two dominant male monkeys.
Aihara mentioned the animals sporting the collars might be recognized because the troop’s leaders.
The units enable officers to observe the monkeys’ actions and supply location info to groups accountable for retaining them away from populated areas.
When the troop approaches city neighborhoods, patrol groups use fireworks and firecrackers to frighten the animals and encourage them to retreat.
However, specialists warning that such measures might have restricted effectiveness in opposition to monkeys which have already turn into accustomed to dwelling alongside folks.
Miki mentioned the animals had developed a sample of utilizing city areas as a part of their regular habitat, making lasting behavioral change troublesome.
“The monkeys have become accustomed to living in urban areas. If fundamental measures could be introduced that reverse that behavior, they might return to the mountains or move elsewhere, but achieving that is extremely difficult,” he mentioned.
The drawback additionally presents a conservation dilemma.
The Japanese macaques discovered round Yugawara are designated as an endangered inhabitants in Kanagawa Prefecture’s Red Data Book, which means authorities should stability the necessity to shield residents with the conservation of the animals.
Officials are nonetheless contemplating how the troop must be managed in the long run.
In the meantime, Yugawara has issued steerage urging residents and guests to keep away from approaching monkeys or making direct eye contact with them.
People are additionally being suggested to not feed the animals or depart something outdoor that would entice them.
Residents ought to preserve doorways and home windows locked and use lace curtains or different coverings to forestall monkeys from seeing meals inside buildings.
The Kanagawa prefectural authorities mentioned it was taking the September assault significantly as a result of it concerned an harm to an individual.
Authorities warned that if current countermeasures fail to cut back the injury, they might transfer towards treating the animals as a “difficult-to-manage troop,” a designation that would result in a extra intensive administration response.
For Yugawara, the problem is more and more pressing because the city makes an attempt to protect its attraction as a sizzling spring vacation spot whereas defending each residents and guests from wildlife that has grown accustomed to the streets, homes and companies of the resort group.
Source: フジテレビ 報道【公式】