Society

Shinjuku to cull Kabukicho rat population

TOKYO, Sep 22 (News On Japan) - In response to a significant rat infestation in Kabukicho, Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward will allocate 12 million yen for a large-scale extermination effort.

Videos of a large number of rats rummaging through Kabukicho garbage have been circulating on social media.

A post on X (formerly Twitter) reads: "There are so many in the morning; we need to exterminate them quickly." Another post mentions, "Rats in Shinjuku are as common as kittens. If we don't take action, they will continue to multiply."

To counter the threat, Shinjuku Ward is ready to action.

Shinjuku Ward Mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi: "As part of our rat control measures, we will conduct environmental surveys and a large-scale extermination in Kabukicho 1st and 2nd districts, which are the focus areas for rat control."

Shinjuku Ward has budgeted approximately 12 million yen for rat extermination and related expenses. This marks the first time the ward has decided to carry out extermination across the entire neighborhood.

The plan is to start by investigating the rat population and ecology in Kabukicho from November and then commence the large-scale extermination using rodenticides in January of next year.

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