Japan police amend rules to allow officers to use rifles against bears

Until now, the regulations for police rifle use have been very restrictive, limited to hijacking incidents or other extreme cases. The amendment will take effect on Nov. 13.

In Iwate and Akita prefectures, where the highest number of bear attacks have been reported, police firearms task forces from other prefectures will conduct joint training with local hunting associations and others to gain a better understanding of bear habits and their vulnerabilities.

Police officers are permitted to kill bears that appear in urban areas of the two prefectures under the enforcement law if there is not enough time to wait for the local authorities' approval for an emergency shooting.

There will be two teams of police officers stationed in each prefecture. Each team will consist of a commanding officer, a liaison to local authorities and two snipers.

According to the Environment Ministry, the number of deaths caused by bears since April reached a record 13 as of Wednesday.

Last month, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara ordered the police agency to consider allowing rifles to be used to kill bears. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it dispatched officers to Iwate and Akita prefectures to assess the situation and later received requests for assistance.

There are approximately 2,100 personnel belonging to the firearms task forces under the riot squad of each prefectural police. They are given rifles, submachine guns and other weapons to deal with incidents involving firearms.

So far, the police have evacuated local residents, secured the surrounding area, and patrolled school routes where bears have appeared.

Five prefectures in northeastern Japan -- Iwate, Akita, Aomori, Miyagi and Yamagata -- saw a "disastrous" beech nut harvest, one of the main food sources for bears, in the current fiscal year that started April, the regional forest office said Thursday.

The last time the harvest index dropped to such a level in all five prefectures was in fiscal 2023, when a number of bear attacks was observed. The severe shortage of the crop is apparently linked to the growing number of bear sighting in areas where humans live.

It was reported, Japan’s Self-Defense Force has been deployed to the forests of Akita Prefecture as the country faces an unprecedented rise in bear attacks. Since spring, 13 people have been killed and more than 60 have been attacked in Akita alone.