In a seminal 1996 episode of "The Simpsons," bear attacks lead to anger among the people of Springfield and the formation of Bear Patrol, a ludicrously over-the-top and over-funded response unit that protects the city from ursine invaders with B-2 stealth bombers.
I can’t have been the only one to think of this response when reports first circulated that Japan was sending its Ground Self-Defense Forces, the equivalent of the army, to tackle the scourge of bears in the north of the country.
But in The Simpsons, the joke is that the townspeople are hysterically overreacting to a solitary creature that is threatening no one. In Japan, it’s no laughing matter. This year alone, at least 12 people have been killed, the most on record and more than double the previous high of six in 2023. Nearly 200 people have been attacked.
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