Taizo Sugimura, 46, a former member of the House of Representatives and TV personality, appeared live on Nippon Television Network Corporation’s “Information Live Miyaneya” (Monday-Friday, 1:55 p.m.) on March 31 to discuss his views on the recent wave of bear attacks across Japan. The program featured an aerial helicopter shot of a 50-centimeter-long bear cub holed up in a construction company’s warehouse in Agano City, Niigata Prefecture. Sugimura said with a mysterious look on his face, “It’s called a cub, but there could be parent bears nearby, so it’s scary, isn’t it? This fiscal year, the number of people killed by bears climbed to 12, doubling the previous record of six in 2011. In some areas, they have come down to the streets, leading Akita Prefecture Governor Kenta Suzuki to request the Ministry of Defense to dispatch Self-Defense Forces to the area. When MC Seiji Miyane said, “It’s no longer possible for local governments to do this,” Sugimura replied, “But to be honest, it’s hard to say whether it’s the job of the Self-Defense Forces or not…. Sugimura expressed his mixed feelings about the situation, saying, “To be honest, it’s hard to say whether it’s the job of the Self-Defense Forces or the SDF. Sugimura is from Hokkaido, where brown bears have been known to appear and cause damage. He said, “From what I’ve heard, the lack of food is indeed a big problem. The members of the hunting club are getting older, and the number of deer and wild boars is increasing. The bear population is also increasing. The bear population is increasing, and as a result, there is a shortage of food for bears. He then added, “There is talk that proper population management is necessary.
