Henry Boogle comments

Tranquilised and relocated bears tend to return, as sparsely populated towns and abandoned farmland provide readily accessible food and shelter. The problem isn't individual bears, the problem is the overall bear population, and the decline in rural human populations.

It's easy to view this measure negatively when you don't live in a dangerous area, when you or someone you know has never experienced a bear encounter. Also, next time you buy meat at the supermarket, keep in mind that that animal probably suffered much more and for much longer than a bear that gets shot.

Killing animals is unpleasant but nature is cruel, and humans are not above nature. Hopefully the culled bears can be eaten, so the deaths are not completely in vain (and because bear meat is delicious).

I think Japanese workers would feel more engaged if:

their contract hours were made explicit in their contracts

overtime didn't feel mandatory

taking all paid holidays was mandatory

managers encouraged staff more and blamed them less

I admire the stoicism of Japanese work culture, but these long hours are not good for people's mental health and are not productive anyway, as after 10+ hours people are too exhausted to be focused and efficient, and so much time is wasted in unnecessary meetings anyway.

I often worry about my Japanese friends' wellbeing due to their working conditions.

I hope they don't ban street drinking across Tokyo. I imagine Shibuya can get a bit out of hand, but I enjoyed a few street beers with colleagues after work and had fun nights with other people, Japanese and otherwise, that I met through street beers too. It'd be a shame if it were banned completely.

I can enjoy the writing without admiring the writer, who should be free to publish, but not win awards.