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The story
On the 28th in Hachioji, Tokyo, an adult Asian black bear was caught in a snare trap set by a private organization, and an emergency shooting was carried out with the approval of Mayor Kazuo Soyado. This marks the first time an emergency bear shooting has been carried out for an Asian black bear within Tokyo. Most of Hachioji’s area is covered by mountains and forest, and there are areas where villages and farmland lie just a short distance from the built-up parts of the city. Reactions on 5ch threads ranged widely, from glib jokes like “who’s going to protect the bear’s human rights?” to questions like “why didn’t they use some method other than shooting?” to geography riffs casting Hachioji and the neighboring Tachikawa/Kichijoji area as a “line of defense against bears.”
Emergency shooting of Asian black bear in Hachioji, Tokyo, a first for the city — mayor approves to prevent harm to people – Sankei News
2026/9/28 20:51
Hachioji City in Tokyo announced on the 28th that an adult Asian black bear had been caught in a snare trap set by a private organization in the city’s Odzu-machi area, and that an emergency shooting was carried out based on the approval of Mayor Kazuo Soyado. This is the first time an emergency bear shooting has taken place within Tokyo.
Source: sankei.com / Original article here
What people said
Bears aren't human, so they don't have human rights.
Asian black bears have 'bear rights,' but do they pay taxes?
It's covered in fleas from head to toe, so butchering it's going to be a pain.
To turn it into meat you need to stun/kill it with electricity first — I don't think Tokyo has the equipment for that, though it's really just a rig hooked up to a car battery.
They just shot it dead right off the bat?
Why'd they give up on every other option?
Hachioji — noted.
Why don't you go keep it at your house, then?
Easy to talk big from somewhere safe.
Think about how the locals feel.
You're supposed to start with a drink and a chat, not a gun.
Sure — drink while eating a whole roasted bear.
That's in one of Hachioji's so-called 'dying villages,' so honestly a bear isn't that surprising.
The fact that they resorted to an emergency shooting probably means it got closer to houses than usual.
Good to have a mayor you can actually count on.
That's the capital of Yamanashi, not Tokyo!
Hachioji barely has a 'city area' to speak of — if you don't shoot it here, that's the real problem.
Looks like the last line of defense at Tachikawa is about to be breached this year.
Come to think of it, what ever happened with those large-animal droppings found in Akishima? What were they from in the end?
DNA testing confirmed it was wild boar
https://www.city.akishima.lg.jp/kurashi/seikatsu/1002560/1011936.html
From Minato it's about a 2-hour trip switching trains and buses — you call that close?
Like I posted before, here's a photo from Kamionkata, which is technically still Hachioji City.
Yeah, calling this 'Tokyo' is a stretch.
Feels like Okutama might have something like that. Not sure, but don't they sell venison souvenirs out there?
Bears thrash around so much that apparently you have to stun them into a near-death state with electricity before finishing them off.
A single shot to the head with a hunting rifle is supposedly fine too, but they said it moves too much to land the shot.
With deer, a few people can just hold it down instead.
They'd probably get their license and gun confiscated over it.
Just let the SAT (Japan's special assault team) handle it.
Bears have thick fat and thick bones, apparently, which makes them prone to causing ricochets.
That's when the government finally gets serious.
What are the animal welfare groups even doing?
Why don't you go handle it yourself, then?
Go try 'coexisting' with it and see how that works out.
People who complain from the city or from other regions do it because it costs them nothing — it's someone else's problem.
In the Tohoku prefectures, bears are already wandering around areas that, in Tokyo terms, would be like right next to Kasumigaseki (Japan's government district).
The bear: 'Stop the projection-mapping shows on the Metropolitan Government Building! You bureaucrats only care about your cushy post-retirement jobs!' (a jab at 'amakudari,' retired officials landing lucrative posts)
The Metropolitan Government could easily handle complaints like that with an automated voice system.
The border between the 23 wards and the outlying cities — meaning Kichijoji and Nishi-Ogikubo.
If it crosses the Tama River, the sparsely-housed area would be around the Kurumagaeshi housing complex in Fuchu.
Or maybe just barely the riverbank in Chofu.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Emergency shooting is a relatively new mechanism added to the Wildlife Protection and Management Act in response to a string of bear-related injuries to people nationwide. Its defining feature is that it lets a municipal mayor authorize culling by gunfire even in areas close to residential districts. This marks the first confirmed use of the provision within Tokyo, meaning the system has now actually been put into practice in the mountainous parts of Hachioji. Opinions in the thread split mainly between those questioning whether options other than shooting could have been used, and those who felt securing the safety of local residents should come first. The back-and-forth over whether “Hachioji is really Tokyo, or is it Yamanashi” also points to a geographic reality easy for readers picturing Tokyo as just its 23 wards to overlook: most of Hachioji’s municipal area is covered by mountains and forest, with villages dotted just a short distance from the built-up areas. Practical topics such as butchering the bear and the risk of ricocheting bullets also came up, making this a thread that spread well beyond a simple back-and-forth of approval and disapproval.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5channel (Breaking News+) thread “Emergency shooting of Asian black bear in Hachioji, Tokyo, a first for the city — mayor approves to prevent harm to people.”
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