FUKUCHI, Fukuoka Prefecture—On a morning when the thermometer registered a chilly 6 degrees, wild boar hunter Yasohachi Hirano's breath made a misty cloud in the air. 

Stepping gingerly from toe to toe, Hirano carefully walked through the natural forest of trees, careful not to spook his prey. 

There was no other signs of other people on the mountain on this morning at 8:30 a.m. in late November. 

“They would be alert hearing even the sound of a foot breaking a tree branch,” the 77-year-old hunter said of the wild swine. 

Suddenly, the barking of fierce dogs echoed through the air. Hirano hurried toward the disturbance, descending the hill.

He removed his hunting rifle, which was slung diagonally over his shoulder, and placed his index finger on the trigger.

Hirano’s two hounds were barking and wagging their tails while bounding close to and away from the bushes.

Hirano knew, “There’s a wild boar in there.” He aimed his rifle.

With a speed too fast for the eye to follow, a boar leaped out of the high grass and attacked the hounds.

Calmly, the septuagenarian pulled the trigger. A dry gunshot sounded, as if a firecracker had burst.

The hounds all pounced on the boar in an instance, which was weakened by the shot.

Hirano approached with a calm gait and plunged his knife into the wild pig’s neck. The boar squealed in its death throes, “Gee! Gee!”

WILD PIGS NO MATCH FOR HUNTER

Hirano, a resident of Fukuchi, Fukuoka Prefecture, has been hunting for more than 40 years, specializing in wild boars.

Hirano goes into the mountains alone with a shotgun and a knife, and hound dogs.

He is a legend among local hunters and is a member of a local Tagawa hunting fraternity group.

He has killed more than 100 boars during the November-March period, when the hunting ban is lifted, for four consecutive years.

“Even capturing 100 (wild boars) using traps is a difficult task,” Eiji Ichimura, 76, who chairs the Tagawa hunting group, said about Hirano’s skill. “But to cull more than 100 for four consecutive years using a single hunting rifle must be a rarity in the country.”

On hunt days, Hirano rises from his bed at 7 a.m., looks at the weather forecast and decides which mountains to climb.

There are a number of mountains in the vicinity of Fukuchi, the town where he lives, ranging from 200 meters to 900 meters in elevation. On each, Hirano knows every inch of the terrain, including the location of each slope and brushy area.

Planted forests do not permit sunlight to reach the ground and do not allow for the growth of food for wild boars such as quail roots and yams, he said.

To find his prey, he chooses steep natural forests. To avoid having his scent detected, he enters the mountain by climbing the slope in the opposite direction of the breeze. 

DESTRUCTION TO FARMLANDS

According to the agriculture ministry, the damage to crops in Fukuoka Prefecture caused by wild birds and beasts in fiscal 2022 totaled approximately 597 million yen ($4 million), second in the nation to Hokkaido.

Calculating the damage in Fukuoka Prefecture done by animal species, the destruction caused by wild boars is about 292 million yen, deer about 66 million yen and monkeys about 3 million yen. Wild boars account for about half of the damages.

According to the Fukuoka prefectural government, unlike deer, wild boars are omnivores and target expensive crops such as persimmons and figs, resulting in greater damage.

“Deer live in the eastern part of the prefecture, but wild boars inhabit the entire prefecture and their large numbers may be a contributing factor,” a prefectural official said. 

The agricultural affairs division of Fukuchi town government currently hires 34 hunting license holders for pest control services, which Hirano is one.

Hirano’s own fields, where he grows pesticide-free lemons, are often dug up by wild boars looking for food.

A couple whom he knows were growing sweet potatoes and hakusai cabbage in their 16.5-square-meter farm, which they started after retirement. But everything was devoured by the swine in only one evening.

“They said they were looking forward to seeing their grandchild eating (the vegetables),” Hirano said. “They seemed very disappointed.”

SURVIVAL INSTINCT BLAMED

Many people around Hirano are giving up their fields due to damage from wild animals and the aging of the population.

Many fields have become abandoned and wild boars start to hide in them, causing even more damage to crops in fields close to human settlements.

Hirano entered one such area and said, “The land is now abandoned and has become a bedding ground for wild boars.”

He walked on the muddy ground glistening with morning dew, through Japanese knotweed and silver grass taller than him.

Still, Hirano believes that the swine are just seeking to survive.

“If wild boars had a moral compass, they would be careful about humans and say, ‘Let’s not eat these potatoes.’ But they have no choice but to do so in order to survive. They, too, are desperate. I understand that.”

On the other hand, humans have been tampering with nature for their own convenience because they also have the need to survive. 

Hirano said, “Even between humans, there are times when we can’t reach a resolution through discussion, and this is even more true when it’s a human versus a wild boar. I think hunting is a way to confront each other with nothing but one’s life, forgiving each other’s circumstances.”

During one encounter, Hirano lost a hound. A wild boar ripped open the unfortunate canine's stomach with its tusks.

“The dog howled, 'Yeow!' and did not last more than three minutes,” he said.

“In a way, it’s fair that we confront each other face to face with the risk of death,” Hirano said. “It’s a fight with the gloves off. If you can’t talk it out, then I think it’s the only way.”

The hunting season will soon come to a close for the season.

Until then, Hirano is ready to put his hounds on the back of his light truck and go hunting again.

“I don’t have any particular feelings," he said. "I just do what I have to do. That’s what being a hunter is all about.”