Vending machine in remote Japan town sells meat from intruding bears

SEMBOKU -- A remote Japanese town has taken to selling bear meat from a vending machine, sourcing its supply to Asian black bears, listed as a vulnerable species, caught in traps or in the mountains by hunters. Daishi Sato, owner of a soba noodle restaurant and the vending machine, shows a pack of Asian Black Bear meat next to the vending machine, in front of his restaurant in Semboku, Akita prefecture, Japan, April 6, 2023. Photo: Reuters Asian black bears are listed as vulnerable, but not critically so, and it is legal to eat bear in Japan. "Bear meat isn't very common so we want tourists who come to visit the town to buy it," Sato said. "Bear meat isn't very common so we want tourists who come to visit the town to buy it," Sato said.