HOKKAIDO – We were carpooling from the Asahikawa countryside to Mount Asahi, the tallest peak in Hokkaido, when our travel companion Yuko Malik, a Japanese tourist from Kumamoto, let out a yelp.
She had spotted a moving flash of black near the trees a short distance ahead. Winding through the mountains in Hokkaido’s remote wilds in June meant we were likely to come face to face with a wild and potentially dangerous beast.
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