Overview
- Under a signed agreement, Self-Defense Force units began work in Kazuno and will extend operations to Odate and Kitaakita through November.
- Troops are not authorized to use firearms and will instead set and move box traps, ferry licensed hunters, and help remove carcasses.
- Since April, more than 100 people have been injured and at least 12 killed nationwide, with Akita reporting over 50 attacks and at least four deaths.
- Authorities link the surge to scarce natural food before hibernation, rising bear numbers, aging rural communities, fewer hunters, and climate-related shifts.
- The government has launched a taskforce considering emergency steps including recruiting and training more hunters, population surveys, warning systems, and hunting-rule revisions by mid-November.