With Japan facing a growing need for hunters to prevent both wildlife damage to agriculture and dangerous animal encounters such as bear attacks, efforts are underway to provide hunting opportunities to those who hold licenses but lack experience.
While the issuance of hunting licenses has been on the rise in the country — especially among young people due to rising interest in the activity — the number of people who leave their licenses unused has been also on an upward trend.
The number of hunting license holders stood at about 215,000 across the country in 2019, rising by about 30,000 over a decade, according to the Environment Ministry. The number of those younger than 40 more than doubled to some 30,000.