A city of half a million people shut every one of its 94 primary and secondary schools on Monday after a black bear was seen wandering through town for the first time in local memory.
Utsunomiya, located about 100 kilometers north of Tokyo, Japan, is not known for bear encounters. But over the weekend, a medium sized black bear roughly one meter long was spotted near a park. Then, in the early hours of Sunday, CCTV cameras captured the same animal running directly in front of two startled young men in the city center.
Police and hunters comb the city for a roaming bear
Local authorities did not take the sighting lightly. Officials closed all elementary and junior high schools across the municipality on Monday, keeping roughly 40,000 students at home. Police officers and licensed hunters began a coordinated search for the animal, focusing on wooded areas and the city’s riverbanks. The bear has not been seen since the early Sunday CCTV footage, but officials say it could still be hiding in green spaces within the urban area.
Why a single bear caused a citywide shutdown
For residents of Utsunomiya, the bear’s appearance is deeply unusual. The species is not typically found this close to Tokyo. Japan has seen a rise in bear encounters in rural and suburban areas in recent years, but a sighting inside a major city of half a million people is rare. The decision to close all schools reflected both caution and the difficulty of tracking an animal that can move quickly through parks, backyards, and drainage channels. Parents were told to keep children indoors until further notice.
The search continues as the city waits
By Monday afternoon, police and hunters had not located the bear. The search was expected to resume on Tuesday, with teams expanding their coverage to include more residential zones near the city center. Officials have not announced when schools will reopen. For now, the city remains on alert, its classrooms empty, as a single black bear keeps half a million people guessing where it will turn up next.
