Overview
- At a ministerial meeting, the government endorsed measures to enlist people with firearms experience, including retired police and soldiers, to help kill problem bears.
- Police are now authorized to use rifles under amended weapons rules, marked by official ceremonies in Akita and Iwate.
- Armed officers began patrols in parts of Iwate on Thursday under the new authorization.
- Tokyo has dispatched soldiers to Akita and Iwate to support trapping and hunting operations, including setting cages and other logistics.
- Officials report roughly 12,000 brown bears and about 42,000 Asiatic black bears, and experts cite climate-driven food cycles, fewer hunters, and rural depopulation as drivers, with hibernation expected to bring a short reprieve.