News24 | Claws for concern: Bear sightings shut nearly 100 schools as hunters comb Japan streets

Researchers from Hokkaido University conduct research about the ecology of the brown bear at their Forest Research Area in Teshio Town, Hokkaido.

• A bear roaming the streets of Japan forced the closure of nearly 100 schools.
• Dozens of hunters, police and local officials are looking for the bear.
• A record 13 people were killed by bears in Japan in 2025.

A bear roaming the streets of a Japanese city for three days forced the closure of nearly 100 schools on Monday, as dozens of hunters and officials searched for the animal.

The city government of Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, closed all 94 public primary and junior high schools in the area after receiving more than 10 reports of bear sightings since Saturday, including in a shopping arcade.

“We have vehicles out to areas where a bear was seen to make people aware and to urge people to stay indoors or in vehicles,” a city official told AFP, adding that dozens of hunters, police and local officials have been looking for the animal.

It was not clear whether there is one bear or more, he said, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.

AFP reported on Friday that an “extremely intelligent” bear that injured four people in northern Japan remained at large, after apparently unlatching a window while evading capture and turning on a water tap, officials said.

READ | ‘Extremely intelligent’ bear unlatches window to evade Japan hunters

Fukushima city mayor Yuki Baba told reporters on Thursday that evidence suggested the animal “unlocked the window on its own” to flee, adding that claw marks had been found near the exit.

It is also believed the bear “turned on the water tap” to drink, he added, describing it as “extremely intelligent”.

“With the cooperation of hunters, police and firefighters, I believe we took all possible measures available to us” to catch it, Baba said.

“That we failed to achieve our goal despite our best efforts is extremely regrettable,” he said.

In recent years, Japan has seen an increasing number of bear sightings and attacks, especially in urban areas.

A record 13 people were killed by bears in Japan in 2025, and there has been a jump in encounters as the animals emerge hungry from hibernation.

In the last year to March, bear sightings nationwide topped 50 000 – more than double the previous record set two years earlier, according to official data.

In Utsunomiya, a regional capital and home to 510 000 residents, there were just two unconfirmed bear sightings in the previous year.

The bear now being hunted was first spotted on Saturday morning, north of the city centre, and was described as being around one metre long.

A series of sightings followed, including in a residential neighbourhood that day, at a shopping arcade on Sunday, and at a park, a high school and a junior school.

Early on Monday, residents spotted a bear close to a wholesale market, the city official said.