Utsunomiya closes 94 schools after first bear sighting, fear grows

Utsunomiya suspended all 94 primary and middle schools it operates after its first-ever bear sighting, a sharp response that turned a rare wildlife encounter into a full-scale public-safety event. The bear was first seen Saturday evening in a residential area near a park, then reported again early Monday morning about half a kilometer from a middle school, while it remained at large.

The closures hit a city of about half a million people, roughly 100 kilometers north of Tokyo, and underscored how quickly one sighting can disrupt daily life when the animal is reported near places where children move every day. By closing every municipal primary and middle school, Utsunomiya city government signaled that officials were treating the risk as immediate rather than isolated, especially after the second report brought the bear closer to school grounds.

The episode comes during a year of unprecedented bear danger across Japan. The Japan Environment Ministry said the country recorded 13 deaths and more than 230 bear attacks in 2025, the highest annual toll on record. In northeastern Japan, a bear attack in Fukushima injured at least four people last week, and security footage from a steel works showed a black bear chasing a worker and knocking him to the ground before fleeing into a nearby residential neighborhood.

That broader pattern has pushed the Japanese government beyond ad hoc reactions. In March and April 2026, officials outlined the country’s first bear-population control roadmap, aiming to assess bear numbers, build emergency capture systems and strengthen rapid-response measures by fiscal 2030. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the government would prioritize public safety and build a response system for when bears are sighted.

For Utsunomiya, the first bear sighting has become a test of how local authorities manage a low-frequency threat that carries high alarm. The city’s decision to close schools before anyone was injured reflects a new reality for municipalities in Japan: when bears enter residential districts, confidence can vanish fast, and the response must be immediate.