Overview
- Self-Defense Forces are deployed in Akita to set box traps, ferry hunters and dispose of carcasses under a logistical mandate that excludes killing bears.
- Akita police report a record 118 vehicle–bear collisions as of October, including 66 in October alone, more than five times last year with no human injuries recorded.
- Since April, at least 13 people have been killed by bears nationwide and more than 100 people have been attacked, based on government data through September.
- Bear sightings topped 20,000 from April to September as animals increasingly entered supermarkets and appeared near schools, train stations and resorts.
- The government formed a task force for a mid-November response, some prefectures authorized riot police to shoot when hunters cannot respond, and officials are weighing surveys, warning systems, hunting-rule changes, drones and AI surveillance.