Overview
- Authorities report more than 100 bear attacks and a record 12 deaths since April, with the toll concentrated in Akita and Iwate.
- The deployment opened in Kazuno, Akita, with about 15 personnel assisting with trap placement, logistics and transport operations.
- JSDF members will not shoot bears and are equipped with items such as repellant spray, shields and net launchers to protect residents.
- Akita officials say sightings have surged sixfold this year to over 8,000, prompting the governor’s request for Self-Defense Force support.
- The government is preparing a broader mitigation package that includes prevention campaigns, recruitment and training of hunters, and follows a September legal change allowing preventive shooting in urban areas.