Japan is one of the countries whose culture amazes the world. The Land of the Rising Sun has a unique nature in the world and is voted one of the most beautiful and exciting places on our planet. A destination that every tourist puts on the list of places to visit, and which is not surprising for its beauty or its high standard of living, as well as its ancient temples or its artistic influence. However, this Asian place also has traditions or customs that are unparalleled, as well as bizarre or striking measures, such as bear hunting. And that's it Japanese authorities reward this practice and even pay money to those who claim the freedom and lives of these animals.
According to state broadcaster NHK Japan has faced the largest wave of ferocious bear attacks the region has ever seen. In 2023, around 200 cases of attacks and injuries to humans by these animals were recorded, which is a historical record as authorities keep records. Additionally, these attacks resulted in five people dying due to their virulence.
Bear hunting is the Japanese authorities' controversial reward for their citizens to avoid further attacks
This forced the Environment Minister to announce measures to combat these events. First, The government would cover the costs of tracking and hunting bears carried out by local authorities, especially in the areas where attacks were very common, such as Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate or Akita – all in the north. Likewise, the governor of this last province, where attacks have tripled in the last year, said He assured that he would encourage hunters with a prize of 5,000 yen (about thirty euros) for each bear killed.
Given this historic – and strange – measure, experts confirm that it is due to climate change. Lack of nuts and acorns in their natural habitattheir main diet, would have caused the animals to expand their search radius for food, especially to hibernate in the winter, which would explain why most attacks occurred in the fall.
Measures that are not fully accepted in a country where there have been several strange payouts and measures recently. Another striking case is this one The Japanese government pays its citizens to find a partneras birth rates in the country have fallen to historic lows and consideration is being given to funding projects that use artificial intelligence to bring people together to reverse a declining birth rate.