Namie to Sendai Castle Cycling Route

At around 18:10 on May 20, a bear about 1 m long was sighted on the riverbank near Iwakiri Ohashi on the Nanakita River in Iwakiri, Miyagino Ward, Sendai; within about 20 minutes there were three reports extending to the Imaichi Bridge area. After hunters set off firecrackers after 20:00, the bear emerged from a thicket and moved westward; no further sightings or damages have been confirmed.

Sendai Iwakiri, Miyagi

Early on the morning of May 20, 2026, one bear was sighted on the riverbed in Iwakiri, Miyagino Ward, Sendai. A nearby elementary school conducted group dismissal and police are on alert.

Sendai Iwakiri, Miyagi

Around 22:50 on May 13, a woman driving on a municipal road in Kamikitakodaira Takamatsu, Haramachi Ward, Minamisoma City, reported seeing one bear about 1 meter long to the Minamisoma police station. Sightings in the city have been occurring repeatedly since May 5.

Minamisoma 原町区北新田, Fukushima

According to police, on the evening of May 10, 2026, multiple bear sightings were reported on the Namie–Kashima prefectural road in Kamikitakahira, Haramachi Ward, Minamisoma City. Around 17:40 a male driver saw a roughly 1-meter-long bear in the woods, and about 20 minutes later a female driver reported another sighting; police have stepped up patrols.

Minamisoma 原町区上北高平, Fukushima

On May 9, 2026, multiple sightings of bears or bear-like animals were reported in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture. According to police stations, the observed animals were reported to be about 1–1.5 meters in length.

Minamisoma 原町区小川町, Fukushima

Around 16:40 on the 8th, a resident spotted one bear-like animal (about 1 meter long) sitting in a field in Izumi, Haramachi Ward, Minamisoma City. No notable damage has been reported so far; police are patrolling by patrol car and coordinating with Minamisoma City Hall to respond.

Minamisoma 原町区泉, Fukushima

At around 20:18 on May 6, 2026, a single animal believed to be a bear about 1 meter long was seen crossing a municipal road in Kanazawa Aza Oia (Haramachi Ward), Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture.

Minamisoma 原町区金沢, Fukushima

On 2026-05-06 in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, an animal believed to be a bear was seen crossing a road (Fukushima Television). The article does not report any injuries or capture.

Minamisoma 原町区小川町, Fukushima

A bear sighting was reported in Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture (see the article body for location details).

Soma Nakamura, Fukushima

At around 11:25 on May 5, 2026, a man driving on the main local road (the Haramachi-Ebizoma Line, known as Hamakaidō) in Kitaizumi-uraatama, Haramachi Ward, Minamisōma City, spotted a bear about 1.5 meters long crossing the road. No human or property damage has been confirmed so far; the scene is about 500 meters from a beach and other sightings have been reported, so the police are urging caution.

Minamisoma 原町区北泉, Fukushima

On May 5, 2026, reports of sightings and footprints of bears or bear-like animals were reported repeatedly across Fukushima Prefecture, including on the Hama Kaido in Minamisoma City. According to police stations, some reports included descriptions of body length, but details are unclear.

Soma Nakamura, Fukushima

On May 5 in Kitaizumi, Haramachi Ward, Minamisoma City, a bear crossing a road was captured on a dashboard camera and the city confirmed it was a bear. In response, the city closed facilities including the Kitaizumi Seaside General Park campsite, and on May 10 and 11 there were three additional sighting reports on prefectural roads in Kamikitakahira, Haramachi Ward.

Minamisoma 原町区北泉, Fukushima

Near the brush above the forest park, it was crossing the gravel path.

Sendai Dainohara-shinrinkoen, Miyagi

Early on the morning of May 20, 2026, one bear was sighted on the riverbed in Iwakiri, Miyagino Ward, Sendai. A nearby elementary school conducted group dismissal and police are on alert.

Sendai Iwakiri, Miyagi

On May 20, 2026 at around 05:50, a woman walking in Taihaku Forest Park in Aoba Ward, Sendai, reported seeing a bear walking south to north. There were no injuries; Sendai North Police said a single bear about 1 meter long was seen near the rock garden by the HOKUSHU Science Museum. Officers patrolled but could not confirm it. A bear had also been sighted about 1.5 km south on the 14th, and police cannot tell if it is the same individual.

Sendai Kitane-Kuromatsu, Miyagi

At around 05:50 on the 20th, a woman walking in Taihara Forest Park in Aoba Ward, Sendai, sighted a bear walking northward and called emergency services. There were no injuries; the Sendai North Police reported it was a single bear.

Sendai Dainohara-shinrinkoen, Miyagi

At around 05:50 on the 20th, one adult bear was sighted walking from south to north near the science museum in Taihaku Forest Park, Aoba Ward, Sendai City.

Sendai Dainohara-shinrinkoen, Miyagi

At around 05:35 on May 20, 2026, a single bear about 1 meter long was sighted in Taihaku Forest Park in Aoba Ward, Sendai. The city closed eight main park access points, installed two cameras near the eastern large pond, and prohibited passage in almost the entire park for the time being.

Sendai Dainohara-shinrinkoen, Miyagi

At around 05:35 on May 20, a person walking in Taihara Forest Park in Aoba Ward, Sendai City, reported seeing a single bear about 1 meter long walking south to north near the rock garden. The police are patrolling the area with patrol cars and urging caution about entering the park.

Sendai Kitane-Kuromatsu, Miyagi

At around 05:30 on the 20th, a woman walking near the rock garden (Iwasakuen) in Taihara Forest Park, Aoba Ward, Sendai, spotted one bear about 1 meter long and reported it to the police. The bear left northward and there have been no further sightings; police are patrolling the area and warning residents.

Sendai Kitane-Kuromatsu, Miyagi

At around 05:30 on May 20, 2026, a woman walking in Taihara Forest Park in Aoba-ku, Sendai, spotted a bear about 1 meter in length and reported it to the police. According to the police, the bear walked away to the north.

Sendai Dainohara-shinrinkoen, Miyagi

On May 20, 2026, Sendai City reported a bear sighting in Taihara Forest Park in Aoba Ward and has temporarily banned passage on most of the park, including paths without street lighting.

Sendai Dainohara-shinrinkoen, Miyagi

On May 18, 2026 at around 20:00 in Sakuragaoka 6-chome, Aoba-ku, Sendai, a passerby reported a black animal about 1 meter long (uncertain if it was a bear) on private property, but residents could not confirm it. At around 22:15 the same day, a bear was reported moving south on a road in Nakayamadai 1-chome and then left for nearby woods. A bear was also sighted at Sakuragaoka Elementary School on the 14th.

Sendai Nishikatsuyama, Miyagi

On May 17, in Sendai City a newspaper delivery worker spotted one bear early in the morning. The article does not provide further details such as injuries or whether the bear was captured or removed.

Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi

Around 04:30 on May 17, 2026, a female newspaper delivery worker spotted a bear about 50 cm long in shrubbery among houses in Yawata 5-chome, Aoba Ward, Sendai. The bear left the scene; police patrolled the area but did not find it. The sighting location is about 300 meters in a straight line from Osaki Hachiman Shrine.

Sendai 八幡, Miyagi

Around 00:00 on May 15, a man driving on a city road in Masue, Miyagino Ward, Sendai, reported seeing a black mass that turned out to be a bear. The bear was a single animal about 1.5 m long, left toward the forest to the east, and there were no injuries; it may be the same individual seen the previous afternoon at Tohoku High School Komatsushima campus, and the city set box traps but had not captured it.

Sendai Masue, Miyagi

Around 00:00 on May 15, 2026, a man driving in Masue, Miyagino-ku, Sendai, called 110 after approaching a dark mass and discovering it was a bear. According to the Sendai East Police, a single bear about 1.5 meters long left toward woods to the north and east; there were no injuries.

Sendai Masue, Miyagi

Around 13:00 on May 14, 2026, a student spotted a bear about 50 meters away in the grove on the grounds of Tohoku High School in Komatsushima, Aoba-ku, Sendai. The school ordered a mass dismissal, and police warned that bears had also appeared in the area on May 11.

Sendai Dainohara-shinrinkoen, Miyagi

Around 13:00 on the 14th, a staff member at Tohoku High School in Komatsushima 4-chome, Aoba Ward, Sendai, reported a bear in a grove on the school grounds to emergency services. The city and Sendai North Police are responding, believing the bear remains in the grove, and have urged caution at nearby schools and the university.

Sendai Komatsu-Shintsutsumi, Miyagi

In the early hours of the 14th, one bear was spotted on the street near Sendai City Sakuragaoka Elementary School in Aoba Ward, Sendai. The school implemented measures such as group dismissal. According to police, the sighting occurred before 3:30 a.m. on the 14th.

Sendai Takimichi, Miyagi

At around 03:25 on the 14th, a bear about 1 meter long was seen climbing over the fence from the road into the grounds of Sakuraoka Elementary School in Sakuraoka 8-chome, Aoba Ward, Sendai. There were no injuries and no further sightings; the school decided not to use the playground and to send pupils home in groups, and police warned residents to be cautious.

Sendai Takimichi, Miyagi

In Sendai's Aoba Ward (Sakuragaoka 8-chome), at around 03:25 on the 14th a female newspaper delivery worker spotted a bear about 1 meter long. At 09:20 a man also saw a similar-sized bear on a promenade in Mizu no Mori Park; nearby schools and a nursery implemented group dismissals or halted outdoor activities, and there were no injuries.

Sendai Takimichi, Miyagi

Around 2:00 a.m. on the 13th, two bears were sighted in front of Tohoku University Aobayama Campus in Aramaki Aoba, Aoba Ward, Sendai. A student reported it to the university, which notified the police in the afternoon; there were no injuries.

Sendai Aramaki, Miyagi

Around 02:00 on the 13th, a Tohoku University student in Aramaki Aoba, Aoba Ward, Sendai, called 110 reporting a cub and an adult bear in the bushes; the two bears fled into the bushes. The Sendai Central Police Station has urged caution in the area.

Sendai Aramaki, Miyagi

At around 20:35 on the 12th, a driver spotted one bear crossing a road from east to west near a pond in Taihaku 2-chome, Taihaku Ward, Sendai. The bear left the area; there are childcare facilities and houses nearby, and police are patrolling and standing by.

Sendai Hagigaoka, Miyagi

Around 13:40 on May 11, 2026, a passerby spotted a single bear about 1 meter long walking in the bamboo thicket near Komatsushima Park in Aoba Ward, Sendai, and called emergency services. The Sendai North Police are urging caution near nearby facilities including Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University and Tohoku High School.

Sendai Komatsu-Shintsutsumi, Miyagi

At around 06:40 on May 11 in the riverside area of Hirose River near Kokusai Center Station (under the subway Tozai Line) in Aoba Ward, Sendai, a man walking his dog reported seeing two bears—believed to be a parent and cub—about 1.5 m and 0.8 m long. The bears left the scene; police patrolled for about an hour and no further sightings were reported.

Sendai Aobayama, Miyagi

At around 06:30 on the 11th, two bears believed to be a parent and cub were sighted on the banks of the Hirose River beside Nishi Park in Aoba Ward, Sendai. After 13:30 another bear was seen in a bamboo grove at a park in Komatsushima 4-chome; police and Sendai City are patrolling and have issued warnings to nearby schools and the university. The man who reported the sighting was not injured.

Sendai Sakuragaoka-koen, Miyagi

At about 08:30 on May 10, 2026, a single bear approximately 1 meter in length was sighted on a walking trail in Shiki no Mori within the Prefectural Forest in Tomiya City (Akashikami-Origemoto). When the walker increased the volume of a radio they were carrying, the bear left the area; there have been no further sightings and the management office is warning visitors over the park's PA system.

Tomiya, Miyagi

At around 06:10 on the 9th, a person driving on the Sendai North Loop Road in Kamiyagari, Izumi Ward, Sendai, spotted a bear about 1 meter long crossing the road. The bear left toward the southern woods and there were no injuries or damage. Police say the sightings on May 6 and at 11:30 on the 9th may be of the same individual and are urging caution.

Sendai Izumichuo-minami, Miyagi

Around 22:00 on May 6 a person in a car sighted a bear about 1 meter long crossing the road at the intersection in front of a shopping mall in Kamiyatagari, Izumi-ku, Sendai. Police patrolled but did not find the bear and there were no injuries. Separately, a bear was sighted on a mountain near Otayachi Elementary School in Ishinomaki on May 2, so an evacuation drill scheduled for May 7 was canceled.

Sendai Izumichuo-minami, Miyagi

Around 22:00 on May 6, 2026, a female driver spotted a single bear about 1 meter long on a prefectural road in Kamitayagari, Izumi Ward, Sendai. The bear crossed a crosswalk at an intersection heading south and disappeared into nearby brush; police patrolled the area but received no further sightings.

Sendai Chomeigaoka-higashi, Miyagi

Around 22:00 on May 6, 2026, a single bear about 1 meter long was sighted near the intersection of the Sendai North Ring Road (Sendai Kita Kanjosen) at Kamiyatagari-Tatewaki, Izumi Ward, Sendai; it left toward the bushes. Police patrolled the area but did not find it afterward, and Izumitakeyama High School notified parents to be cautious by email.

Sendai Chomeigaoka-higashi, Miyagi

At around 20:10 on May 4, 2026, a teenage woman returning home spotted a single bear about 1 meter long rummaging through a plastic bag on a road near Kitayama Station (JR Senzan Line) in Yamatecho, Aoba-ku, Sendai. Police arrived but the bear had already left; no injuries or damage have been reported.

Sendai Kikutamachi, Miyagi

At around 20:10 on the 4th, a bear rummaging through what looked like a plastic bag on a road in Yamatecho, Aoba Ward, Sendai was reported by a teenage woman. The bear, about 1 meter long, had already left when police arrived; no injuries or damages have been reported, and police are warning residents near Kita-Yama Station on the Senzan Line.

Sendai Yamatemachi, Miyagi

At around 13:40 on the 28th, a 110 call reported seeing something like a bear in a residential area of Tsurugaya 4-chome, Miyagino Ward, Sendai. According to the Sendai East Police Station, the sighting occurred about 300 meters northeast of Tsurugaya Kindergarten, and the station is urging caution in the area.

Sendai Jiyugaoka, Miyagi

At around 13:40 on April 28, a report was made of a "bear-like" animal in a residential area of Tsurugaya 4-chome, Miyagino-ku, Sendai. According to the Sendai East Police Station, the animal was sighted about 300 meters northeast of Tsurugaya Kindergarten, and the station has urged caution in the surrounding area.

Sendai Jiyugaoka, Miyagi

At 02:45 on April 28, 2026, a roughly 1-meter-long bear was seen walking on a road in a residential area near Taihaku Park, Taihaku 1-chome, Sendai; a passing motorist reported it to police. The bear left northward into the woods; there were no injuries and police patrolled the area but did not find it.

Sendai Sahoyama, Miyagi

On 2026-04-28, one bear was sighted near Tsurukaya Kindergarten in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture.

Sendai Jiyugaoka, Miyagi

On 2026-04-27 at around 16:45, a male elementary-school student returning home saw a bear climbing a tree in woodland north of Izumi High Support School in Anyoji 2-chome, Miyagino Ward, Sendai, and a guardian called 110. The Sendai East Police are warning local residents and schools; the bear is about 1 meter long and may be the same individual reported in earlier sightings.

Sendai Masue, Miyagi