I take the liberty to dedicate an own thread to this topic. I would be interested to know more about hunting in Japan, which is indeed significant in this densely forested country (mostly trapping, but also airgun and firearms hunting).

It is almost impossible to find non-Japanese info on the 'Net, except for some brief excerpts of the Hunting Law and environmentalist concerns. The Japanese Hunting Association has a website, but it's written exclusively in Japanese (can't blame them, the Germans aren't better):

http://homepage3.nifty.com/JHA/



Can anyone of you help me with more information about hunting in Japan ?

Here are some more facts on firearms in Japan:

FIREARMS OWNERSHIP

Percentage of Households with at least one firearm: 0.57

Estimated Number of Licensed Firearm Owners: 239,380

Estimated Number of Firearms: 410,417

Types of firearms: Approximately 365,040 shotguns, 37,518 hunting rifles, 85 handguns

Regards,
carcano91@hotmail.com

[ 06-10-2002, 01:36: Message edited by: carcano91 ]

Carcano,
My late father hunted Japan in the 60's while in the srvice. He hunted birds with the natives. They bagged Mtn pheasants, Korean Green pheasants and some type of partridge. Shotgun slugs were carried for wild boar although none were seen. I believe rimfire rifles and all handguns are outlawed. MtnHtr

We lived in Japan for 3 years when I was a kid. My dad went Grizzly Bear hunting in Hokaido (the northern most island). Never saw a bear except in a cage. But....that was in 1963. I suppose lots of things have changed since then. Jeff

I would wonder who the firearms owners are, ie, US military personnel stationed there or some political big wigs.

Also, if they actually let some of the common people own firearms, I'd like to know what kind of red tape they have to hack their way through...