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The story
On the night of the 13th, a bear roughly 1.5 meters long rammed into a moving passenger car on a prefectural road in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, and ended up sprawled across the hood. The driver, a man in his 30s, was uninjured. On 5channel’s Breaking News+ thread, the “1.5-meter body length” figure sparked debate — some argued that’s “about the size of an elementary schooler,” while others countered that “a bear’s length on all fours and its height when standing up are two different things.” The discussion also branched into concerns about a growing number of bears no longer fearing cars, and what drivers should do if one charges at them.
9/14 (Mon) 4:58
SBC Shin-etsu Broadcasting
On the night of the 13th, a bear rammed into a passenger car on a prefectural road in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, damaging part of the vehicle.
Source: topics.smt.docomo.ne.jp / Original article here
What people said
https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1895940628263157762/pu/vid/avc1/476×350/k8JLiSP4eZ94t9W2.mp4
A bear attacking a car
https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1784859059931295744/pu/vid/avc1/1280×720/WXZfsFxbKucG2QtE.mp4
Bear vs. Self-Defense Force soldier
https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1405934308120924161/pu/vid/1280×720/7h16oeWDVoLXOd_1.mp4
Bear startled by a human voice
https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1297900645861728261/pu/vid/720×720/TD-HTLVaf7cNNyXX.mp4
You don't even know what 'body length' means, do you?
Sure, if you could keep running at 40km/h and had a skeleton and hide as tough as a bear's, it'd be a fair fight.
Maybe they've quietly figured out it's a 'land of savages' already lol (a joking nickname for Kyushu, known for its rough reputation)
This was a full-grown adult male (around 100kg).
To a tiny 1.5m bear, an Alphard probably looks like a black rhino. A puny car like a Jimny gets no respect and invites an attack, but with an Alphard the bear would probably get scared and run off.
The power of financing it on a residual-value car loan lol
A four-legged animal's 'body length' is like a human's head-plus-torso length. Once it stands up, it easily tops 2 meters.
The head is often left mostly intact too, but some Asian black bears skillfully peel away just the skull to neatly devour only the brain and eyeballs (゚Д゚)yum~.
Nice bears would never do that! No offense meant!!
If it deployed, the car's undrivable now. JAF (Japan's roadside assistance) probably won't come out this far, so you'd have to call a private towing service. Wonder if you can even find one by searching online.
Kamikochi and the east side of Mt. Yari are technically part of Matsumoto City too.
This was originally a mountain village near Kiso that got absorbed into Matsumoto City through municipal mergers — not remotely urban… Because of all these mergers, Matsumoto City's outline looks pretty distorted on a map.
You're 180cm tall, so you think you'd win because you're 'smaller' than it? Subtract your leg and thigh length and your 'body length' is only about 100cm — and you're skinnier than the bear too. You'd just get eaten.
The scary thing about bears: they can stand up on two legs like a human and claw at your head, which is way up high. Just hearing about it is terrifying.
More like there are more and more bears that just aren't scared of cars anymore. In Akita there was a mother bear and cub crunching on fallen walnuts right next to a patrol car — siren blaring, lights flashing — completely unbothered.
If you rammed it full force, chances are your car would be the one that ends up undrivable while the bear walks away fine. And if it's angry now 😡, you'd be stuck unable to get out of the car, scared out of your mind.
https://www.env.go.jp/nature/nationalparks/about/bear/images/bear_about_picture.png
And it's fast on top of that — there's no way you're winning that fight, hahaha
Background and Key Points of This Topic
As Ministry of the Environment materials note, a bear’s “body length” refers to the distance from nose tip to tail while standing on all fours — a different measurement standard than its height when reared up on its hind legs. The thread reaction that “1.5m is elementary-school-kid size” stems from not accounting for this difference in measurement standards. Meanwhile, there are indications that more bears are behaving without fear of people or vehicles in recent years, which matches a trend the Ministry of the Environment and local governments have repeatedly warned about. The thread reached no consensus on the legal treatment of intentionally hitting an animal while driving — this touches on issues involving the Road Traffic Act and the Act on Welfare and Management of Animals, and there’s no simple answer. It’s also worth noting that Matsumoto City absorbed a large amount of mountainous terrain through municipal mergers, so there’s a gap between its “big city” image and its actual geography.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5channel (Breaking News+) thread “[(・(ｪ)・)] “The Bear Came Right at My Car” — 1.5m Bear Rams Vehicle, Sprawls Across Hood, 30-Something Male Driver Uninjured, Nagano.”
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