Japan eyes tax relief for bear hunters

The Environment Ministry has started discussions on exempting hunters from the hunting tax as a special measure amid increasing bear attack cases across the country, sources have said.

The tax relief, aimed at easing the financial burden on, and securing, hunters, is seen applying to cases using the emergency culling system, which permits bears in residential or other inhabited areas to be shot based on decisions by municipal governments.

The ministry plans to request necessary funding under the government’s fiscal 2027 budget, sources familiar with the matter said.

Currently, hunters pay a hunting tax of between ¥5,500 and ¥16,500 to prefectural governments, depending on the license category, when registering for capturing animals. The tax must be paid for each hunting season and to each prefecture, resulting in a heavier burden for hunters who are active in wide areas.

To address the situation, the ministry plans to exempt hunters from the tax in emergency shooting cases and in culling aimed at animal population control, according to the sources.

Details will be decided on the basis of the existing special incentive system, which exempts hunters whom local governments appoint to tackle damage caused by wild animals from paying the tax and grants a 50% reduction in the tax to hunters who cull animals for specific purposes by obtaining permissions from relevant local authorities.

According to the ministry, the number of bear sightings in fiscal 2025, which ended in March this year, reached a record high of more than 50,000, and 13 people were killed in bear attacks.

As there is an urgent need to capture bears and control their population amid the rapid aging of hunters and a serious shortage of successors, the ministry plans to strengthen support for people engaging in publicly funded hunting operations to help reduce bear-related damage and casualties.