Amid frequent sightings of bears across Japan, a village in the northern prefecture of Aomori has served visitors meals made with the meat of culled bears.
Residents of Nishimeya Village set up bear traps at farms to protect crops. They have a processing plant to turn culled bears into edible meat and leather goods.
An event to sample bear meat dishes was held at a roadside rest area in the village on Sunday and Monday.
The meals served included bear meat skewers -- which went viral on social media -- and a hot pot featuring bear meat and local wild vegetables.
Cooks say they took time to allow the meat to age to remove its unpleasant odor.
The venue was teeming with visitors. A man from Tochigi Prefecture said this was his first time to eat bear meat, and that it had no strong flavor and was tasty. He said the event was a good way of preventing culled bears from being wasted.
The operator of the rest area that hosted the event says he was surprised by the reaction on social media. He said he wants many people to enjoy the meat, which he said is tender and has little odor.

Quiz 1:
Where did the bear meat dishes event take place?
A. Hokkaido Prefecture
B. Aomori Prefecture
C. Fukushima Prefecture
D. Tokyo Prefecture

Quiz 2:
What was one of the dishes served at the bear meat event?
A. Bear meat hot pot with local vegetables
B. Bear meat sashimi
C. Bear meat and rice bowl
D. Bear meat teriyaki skewers

Quiz 3:
Why did the residents of Nishimeya Village set up bear traps at their farms?
A. To scare bears away from their homes
B. To protect their crops from bears
C. To hunt and sell bears illegally
D. To increase the bear population in the area