With the right clothing anyone can bear a resemblance.

Although reports of bears showing up in various parts of rural Japan are still coming in as we enter winter, it does appear that the more dangerous encounters with humans have been slowing down in recent weeks. However, the months of seemingly non-stop news about bear attacks has left a lot of people on edge.

At about 7:35 a.m. on 15 December, a motorist on National Route 13 in Yamagata City saw a bear sitting on the side of the road and reported it to the police. An alert was sent out to nearby facilities, advising everyone to be on guard for the wild animal.

▼ The approximate area where the bear was seen

About three days later, one business contacted the Yamagata Police and said that around the same time as the report, there was a woman having a cigarette and sitting with her back turned to the highway. More importantly, the woman was wearing a full-sized, black, and furry jumpsuit with bear-like ears attached to the hood.

The police investigated and confirmed the smoker’s wardrobe choice, concluding the original report was mistaken. Readers of the news online, however, weren’t so sure…

“How can we be sure bears don’t smoke?”
“I saw a monkey smoking once. Why not bears too?”
“A woman with a bear hoodie smoking on the highway is pretty suspicious too though.”
“She probably just wants attention.”
“Does she want to get shot?”
“This isn’t a good time to dress like a bear.”
“I’m a hunter, and so many times people call me about a bear when it’s really just a dog or a boar.”
“The police should set up video phones and photo sending for situations like this.”
“It’s a big problem in Yamagata, and probably better safe than sorry.”

Yamagata is one of the more affected parts of Japan when it comes to bears, and sightings are still reported daily, though as this case and one of the comments pointed out, mistakes do happen.

I think the moral of this story is that when the country is suffering from an unprecedented level of deadly bear encounters, to the point that “bear” is designated the word of the year, maybe hold off on dressing like one for a bit.

Source: TUY, Yamagata News Online, Hachima Kiko, Yahoo! Japan News
Top image: Pakutaso (Edited by SoraNews24)
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!