Overview
- Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the Self-Defense Forces will provide non-lethal support after meeting Akita Governor Kenta Suzuki, with firearms use prohibited by law.
- SDF personnel are set to help install box traps and to transport and dispose of bears already culled by licensed teams.
- The Cabinet directed ministries to compile additional measures, with a cross-ministry meeting scheduled for Thursday to review prevention and staffing needs.
- Fiscal 2025 deaths have reached a record 10 nationwide as sightings surge and bears enter towns, a trend linked by experts to poor mast, warmer winters and rural depopulation.
- Akita has recorded 54 people killed or injured this year and more than 8,000 sightings, including a multi-victim attack in Higashinaruse last week.