A Japanese city is missing out on opportunities with nearly 100 schools closed this week amid a spate of bear sightings, officials searching the town and attacks elsewhere in the country.
The city of Utsunomiya, home to about 500,000 residents north of Tokyo, recorded its first recent bear sighting on Saturday, the city’s wildlife management group said.
The next day, a bear was seen in the middle school playground, and that night, a bear was caught on a security camera in a downtown shopping district.
Since then, there have been reports of sightings in various parts of the city, and on Monday night, police confirmed the bear’s presence again, the wildlife group said.
According to the city’s Board of Education, all public elementary and junior high schools in the city were closed starting Monday. It’s not yet clear whether it will reopen later this week.
Police officers and members of the local hunting association are currently patrolling the city and preparing to capture the fleeing bear. It is not yet known if all the sightings were of one bear or if there were more bears nearby.
Meanwhile, authorities are urging residents to take precautions to prevent bears from entering their homes, such as locking doors and windows and not taking out trash at night.
Japan has been grappling with a worsening bear problem for years, with deaths reaching record levels last fall. It became a national emergency, with authorities dispatching troops to hard-hit areas and international governments issuing travel advisories to Japan. A video of a bear roaming supermarket aisles and a schoolyard went viral, putting the community in crisis.
The surge in attacks is fueled by several factors. As hunting declines, bear populations are rapidly increasing. Climate change is causing crop failures and bears are looking elsewhere for food. And with fewer people living in rural towns, bears are finding it easier to invade human areas.
Surveillance camera captures bear attack outside Japanese factory
The number of reported attacks peaked towards the end of the year and then declined during the hibernation season in early 2026. However, as Japan enters summer and the weather warms, bears are waking up from their slumber and returning to cities and towns. Just last week, on June 2, a bear attacked a steel factory in Fukushima Prefecture, about 170 kilometers from Utsunomiya, injuring four people.
According to public broadcaster NHK, three people were killed and another 20 were attacked by bears in at least nine prefectures between April and June 2. Some of the incidents occurred in the mountains, with some people injured while going out to pick wild plants and vegetables.
