Japan Govt Holds Ministerial Meeting to Tackle Rising Bear Attacks

By Mizawa Daiki and Higuchi Takahito / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

1:00 JST, November 1, 2025

Due to a deep concern over the frequent occurrence of bears injuring people, the government has elevated its liaison meetings on measures against such attacks from the working-level to the ministerial level.

If its response lags, the administration will likely be criticized. In this regard, the government is mobilizing police and the Self-Defense Forces to ensure the safety of residents.

“To protect the lives and livelihoods of people, we will step up any additional extraordinary measures against bears attacks,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at the first ministerial meeting concerning the measures at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday.

Officials from the Environment Ministry and four other ministries have previously attended meetings on such measures. At Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s instruction it was upgraded to a ministerial meeting due to the escalating number of injured people. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry have now joined.

“This reflects the Prime Minister’s sense of crisis as the situation is threatening people’s daily lives,” a senior government official said.

While the administration has made a strong start with high Cabinet approval ratings, mishandling of the management of such a crisis could give the opposition an opening to exploit. In this regard, the government intends to proceed with meticulous planning.

A key challenge is expanding personnel for capturing and culling bears. Regarding “emergency hunting with guns” — which allows municipalities to authorize shooting bears in urban areas — Kihara requested that police use rifles to cull bears. Police will urgently advance training, acquire necessary knowledge and prepare enough equipment for culling operations.

Meanwhile, the Self-Defense Forces face difficulties using firearms for bear culling due to restrictions under the SDF Law and other regulations.

“The SDF’s primary mission is national defense. We cannot implement unrestricted measures against bear attacks,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said at the meeting.

Responding to Akita Prefecture’s request, the SDF will provide support such as setting box traps and transporting culled bears to make up for personnel shortages at local governments. The support is based on Article 100 of the SDF Law, which covers contracting for civil engineering and other work. The SDF have experience transporting captured Yezo sika deer in Hokkaido.

The Environment Ministry intends to proceed with bear capturing based on scientific data as an intermediate-term measure. The initial budget proposal for next fiscal year is expected to include measures to secure and train “government hunters,” public officials holding hunting licenses, and to strengthen deterrence measures using new technologies like drones.