Japanese region asks army to cull bears as attacks spike

The governor of Japan’s Akita, a mountainous northern prefecture, has called for the military’s help to protect residents from an unprecedented wave of bear attacks.

TOKYO — The governor of Japan’s Akita, a mountainous northern prefecture, has called for the military’s help to protect residents from an unprecedented wave of bear attacks.

“Exhaustion on the ground is reaching its limit,” Governor Kenta Suzuki said in an Instagram post on Sunday. He said he planned to ask for help with a bear cull.

Japan’s new defense minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, was set to meet Suzuki on Tuesday morning, according to a schedule released by the ministry.

Suzuki’s plea comes after a bear attack in Akita on Friday in which one person was killed and three others injured, amid a record number of attacks across the country this year.

Local authorities in Akita say 54 people have been killed or injured this year, up from 11 last year, while sightings have increased around sixfold to more than 8,000 incidents.