Bear Appears on School Grounds in Northern Japan, Returns to Mountains after Police, Hunters Use Firecrackers

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:53 JST, November 10, 2023

AKITA – A bear about 50 centimeters long was spotted on the grounds of Noshiro High School’s Futatsui campus in Noshiro, Akita Prefecture, and a witness living nearby called police at around 11:35 a.m. on Thursday.

The bear ran around the grounds and then climbed a 5-meter-high cherry tree near a tennis court on the east side of the school building, according to the Noshiro police station and the city government.

The police, city officials, and members of a hunters association had been monitoring the bear, which got down from the tree at around 6:20 p.m. They used firecrackers to scare the bear away, and it went back to the mountains, according to the police and the city.