PUBLISHED : 7 Nov 2025 at 12:33
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File photo taken in October 2025 shows a bear on a riverbank in central Morioka, Iwate prefecture. (Photo: Kyodo)
The government of Hokkaido, in northern Japan, will ask the central government on Friday for financial support so it can hire retired defense force personnel and police officers as bear hunters amid a surge in attacks on the human population.
The emergency request to the Environment Ministry will be made together with groups representing mayors and municipalities in the country’s northernmost prefecture, according to a source familiar with the move.
The request comes just days after Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF) personnel began assisting the nearby prefecture of Akita in its bear-killing operations, providing logistics-only support.
Under Hokkaido’s plan, former Self-Defence Forces personnel and police officers would be hired as municipal workers in a bid to gather qualified individuals who are trained in the use of firearms.
The prefecture will also ask the central government to come up with a public compensation measure for hunters in case they get injured while conducting emergency bear killings, according to the source.
Among its other requests, the prefecture will seek stricter enforcement of penalties against those who come dangerously close to bears or feed them inside the national park on the Shiretoko Peninsula, a popular bear sighting spot, as well as more thorough monitoring for problematic behaviour.
A record 13 people have died in Japan in bear attacks since April, Environment Ministry data showed on Wednesday, including two people killed by bears in Hokkaido this summer.
In Sapporo, a bear was shot and killed on Oct 24 in an emergency action.
Following a flurry of sometimes deadly attacks across the country, the central government is already planning to update its existing measures against encroaching bears by the middle of this month.
In Akita, GSDF personnel deployed to assist the prefecture’s bear-killing operations are equipped with bulletproof vests, rifle-shaped rods roughly 165 centimeters long, protective shields and bear-repellent spray.
The Defence Ministry said they will not use firearms because they have not been trained in killing wild animals and such activities are not considered missions under the SDF law or other regulations.
The government also amended its rules this week to allow police officers to use rifles to kill bears.
Such regulations have until now been very restrictive, limiting rifle use to hijacking incidents or other extreme cases. The amendment will take effect on Nov 13.
AloJapan.com