Overview
- Authorities report a record 13 fatalities since April and more than 100 injuries, with casualties concentrated in Iwate and Akita.
- The Defense Ministry sent Ground Self-Defense Force teams to Akita in a logistical role to set and check box traps and transport hunters and carcasses, and troops are not permitted to cull bears.
- The National Police Agency revised rules to allow rifle culling by specialist riot-police units, with initial deployments planned for Akita and Iwate.
- Fresh incidents continue, including a Nov. 7 attack in Fukushima that left a man hospitalized and triggered additional police patrols and local warnings.
- Tourism in the Tohoku region is slumping as parks close after sightings and hot-spring inns report cancellations, while residents are urged to carry bells or other noise-makers and secure trash.