Japan deploys troops to tackle wave of bear attacks in Akita

Japan has sent soldiers into the forests of Akita prefecture to help contain a surge of bear attacks that have killed 12 people and injured more than 100 this year, the deadliest wave on record.

The deployment, announced Wednesday, comes after weeks of alarming encounters with brown and Asiatic black bears, spotted near schools, train stations, supermarkets, and even hot springs resorts, as the animals forage aggressively before hibernation.

“Every day, bears intrude into residential areas in the region and their impact is expanding,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Fumitoshi Sato said. “Responses to the bear problem are an urgent matter.”

Under a deal between the Defense Ministry and Akita’s local government, troops won’t hunt or shoot the animals directly. Instead, they’ll set food-baited box traps, transport hunters, and help remove carcasses. Soldiers wearing helmets and bulletproof vests began operations in the forested city of Kazuno, carrying bear spray and net launchers.

Local orchard owner Takahiro Ikeda said the animals devoured more than 200 of his apples just before harvest.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the mission’s goal is to “help secure people’s daily lives,” but cautioned that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces “cannot provide unlimited support” since their core duty remains national defense.

Akita, a largely rural prefecture of 880,000 people, has logged more than 50 attacks since May, four of them fatal. Victims include elderly women collecting mushrooms and farmers tending crops. A newspaper deliveryman was mauled in Akita city earlier this week.

Experts blame Japan’s ageing and shrinking rural population, which has left fewer hunters and more abandoned farmland, now overrun with wildlife. Bears, whose numbers have risen to an estimated 54,000 nationwide, are no longer considered endangered, and some ecologists say culling may be necessary to prevent further conflict.