Unfortunately, as rural populations continue to decline, bears are venturing out in search of food and reports of encounters between people and bears are increasing. While sometimes such encounters can be entertaining and, thankfully, ultimately uneventful, bears are extremely dangerous animals and should be avoided at all costs.
Be especially careful when near woods or out and about, as bears can appear at any time, as happened to Yoshihara Togen, the abbot of Yokokokuji Temple in Gosen, Niigata Prefecture. On May 29, Togen was walking along a mountain trail with a beagle named Senko when they ran into a bear that stood about 1.6 meters tall.
As soon as Togen saw the beast, he rushed over and grabbed his legs. The fall combined with the weight of the bear on Togen caused him to dislocate his shoulder and damage ligaments.
As the news report below shows, Togen was actually a Buddhist monk of considerable build, but the attack came so suddenly and his limbs were so severely injured that even a man of his physique could do nothing.
In most cases, it would have spelled the end for someone in Togen’s situation. But Chiko stepped up, barking loudly and charging at the bear. The bear was frightened and fled back into the woods. The one-year-old beagle bravely chased the bear and disappeared into the woods.
Fearing that the situation would worsen, Togen immediately drove out to look for Chiko. However, just 30 minutes later, he received a call from his wife saying that Chiko had returned home safely and was said to be quite proud.
The story itself is amazing, but it gets even stranger because Togen was raising Chiko at the time of the incident. Chiko’s original family gave her up because her bark – the same bark that saved Togen’s life – was too loud. They returned Chiko to her breeder, who entrusted her to Yugu Temple.
According to online comments, news readers do not deny that this is God’s arrangement, and everyone agrees that Chiko is a very good child.
