Japan’s raccoon infestation has gotten considerably worse over the last decade, multiple Japanese news sources are reporting.

Nearly 1,300 raccoons were captured during the 2022 fiscal year, said Tokyo’s government.

This is about five times the number that were captured 10 years ago, reported Kyodo News, a Japanese news agency.

In 2013, the Japanese government reiterated the need to combat raccoons as an invasive species.

Raccoons are not native to Japan, but were brought to the country in the 1970s following the popularity of the 1977 anime “Rascal the Raccoon.”

The anime was based on the autobiographical novel “Rascal, A Memoir of a Better Era” by Sterling North. In the book, North recounts…