ABSTRACT
Some years ago the Asahi shinbun reported an incident in which a hiker encountered a hunter in the mountains. The hiker, frightened by the nearby blast of gunfire, went over and asked the hunter to be more careful with his gun. The hunter responded angrily. ‘Aren’t you the one who should be careful? We have permission to hunt, but did you get permission to hike?’ (Asahi shinbun 7/12/1993). The same article catalogues a number of other incidents involving anti-social behaviour on the part of hunters towards passers-by, creating the impression that the aggression of the Japanese hunter is not exclusively directed to his animal prey.
