Japanese city shuts down nearly 100 schools after unprecedented bear sighting

A city in Japan has closed all its 94 primary and secondary schools after a bear was spotted in the municipality for the first time. Officials in Utsunomiya, a city of half a million people about 100km (62 miles) north of Tokyo, took action after a medium-sized black bear – estimated to be about one-metre-long – was seen near a park in the city on Saturday. The bear was spotted again on CCTV running just in front of two startled young men in the city centre, in the early hours of Sunday. It was seen in residential areas during the day on Sunday, and again in a factory district about 2km from the city centre at 4am on Monday. Utsunomiya City officials are urging residents to keep their doors and windows locked, not to approach the bear if they see it and to take refuge in the closest building. The city has also deployed public address vehicles to alert local residents. Police and the local hunting association resumed their search for the animal this morning. A record 50,000 bear sightings have been reported this year in Japan, concentrated in the north-east. The animals have not usually been seen this close to Tokyo. However, a Russian hiker was injured by a bear last month in Okutama, on the far western edge of the metropolitan area, while another appeared in the satellite city of Hachioji shortly afterwards. …