Japan Top Court Backs Bear Hunter, Overturns High Court Ruling

Jiji Press

20:27 JST, March 27, 2026

Tokyo, March 27 (Jiji Press)—The Supreme Court on Friday backed a hunter seeking to cancel the revocation of his gun license that had been decided after he shot a bear at the request of a municipality in Hokkaido, northernmost Japan.

The court overturned a high court ruling that it was legal for Hokkaido to revoke his gun license on the grounds that his shot could have damaged nearby buildings. The victory of the hunter, Haruo Ikegami, 77, head of a branch of Hokkaido’s hunting club, now became final.

This is the first time for the Supreme Court to rule the revocation of a hunting gun license to be illegal. After the judgment, local governments are expected to be more careful about deciding disciplinary action against hunters in a country experiencing an increase in bear attack incidents.

According to the district and high court rulings, Ikegami shot dead a brown bear cub with a rifle under the supervision of the city of Sunagawa and local police in August 2018. The Hokkaido public safety commission rescinded his gun license in April 2019, citing the possibility that his shot could have damaged nearby buildings.

Sapporo District Court nullified the revocation, saying that his shot did not damage any nearby buildings. By contrast, Sapporo High Court ruled that the measure was legal because the visibility was poor at the scene and bullets could have easily ricocheted.

Ikegami appealed the high court ruling to the Supreme Court.