Authorities in Utsunomiya, a city north of Tokyo, closed 94 public primary and junior high schools on Monday after a bear continued to roam nearby streets for three days, sparking widespread concern.
City officials reported more than 10 bear sightings since Saturday, including appearances in a shopping arcade, residential areas, and near schools. The repeated sightings triggered a large scale response involving police, hunters, and local government teams searching across multiple neighbourhoods.
Officials said they deployed vehicles to alert residents and urged people to stay indoors or remain inside vehicles whenever possible. They also noted that they could not confirm whether one bear or multiple animals caused the sightings.
The search began after residents first spotted a bear on Saturday morning north of the city center. Witnesses described the animal as about one meter long. Subsequent sightings followed in different parts of the city, including a park, a high school, a junior school, and a wholesale market area early Monday.
Utsunomiya, a regional capital with about 510,000 residents, had recorded only two unconfirmed bear sightings in the previous year, making the current situation highly unusual.
Japan has experienced a sharp rise in bear encounters in recent years, especially in urban areas. Official data show sightings across the country exceeded 50,000 in the year to March, more than double the previous record set two years earlier. Authorities also recorded 13 bear-related deaths last year, as bears increasingly moved into populated areas in search of food after hibernation.
