TOCHIGI, Jun 08, 2026 - A large bear was captured on security camera footage running through a shopping arcade in central Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, in the early hours of June 7th, as authorities stepped up warnings following a series of bear sightings across the city.
The footage, recorded at around 2 a.m., shows the bear sprinting down the middle of a busy shopping street in downtown Utsunomiya. A person standing nearby can be seen jumping back in surprise as the animal passes.
Noriko Matsuda, secretary-general of the Utsunomiya Orion Street Shopping District Promotion Association, said she was shocked by the footage.
"Because this is the center of Utsunomiya, we never expected a bear to appear here. I'm just relieved that nobody was hurt," Matsuda said.
According to the city government, reports of bear sightings have continued since around 6:30 a.m. on June 6th, when a bear measuring about 60 centimeters in length was spotted in woodland near a park in Nagaoka Town. Since then, approximately 10 sightings have been reported across the city.
No injuries have been reported in any of the incidents.
One resident who encountered the bear while walking a dog said the animal cut across a path, climbed over a fence, and entered the grounds of a junior high school.
"If I had been one or two seconds earlier, I might have been killed," the resident said.
City officials, together with local hunting associations, are conducting patrols and urging residents not to approach bears if they encounter them, and to immediately notify authorities.
Source: FNN
