This 124 km route from Kotodai Park to Kesennuma crosses Miyagi. Over the past 30 days, 36 bear sightings have been recorded within 5 km of the route, including 15 in the past week. This route runs through Asian black bear habitat (native to Honshu and Shikoku). The most recent sighting was reported 1 day ago near Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi; the location sits about 0 m from the start of the route and 1.0 km off the route line. The closest sighting to the route line was reported 2 weeks ago at Ishinomaki 小船越, Miyagi, sitting about 55.9 km from the start and 283 m off the route line.
This is an active bear corridor. Drive through with full caution, but rerouting is the safer choice.
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
In the early hours of the 15th, a male passerby reported seeing one bear about 1 meter long on the prefectural road near Kesennuma Police Station in Akaiwa-Suginosawa, Kesennuma City. Officers searched the area but did not find the bear, and there were no injuries.
Kesennuma 赤岩杉ノ沢, Miyagi
Around 01:10 on May 15, a male pedestrian sighted one bear on a prefectural road east of the Kesennuma Police Station in Akaiwa Suginosawa, Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture.
Kesennuma 赤岩杉ノ沢, 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
A bear was reported to have appeared in front of the Kesennuma Police Station in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture. The article does not state whether anyone was injured or whether the bear was captured.
Kesennuma 赤岩杉ノ沢, 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
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
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
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
According to police, at around 17:35 on May 12, 2026, a resident sighted a single bear about 1 meter long crossing a road in Nobirugaoka 1-chome, Higashimatsushima. The bear emerged from woodland to the north, crossed a municipal road near 'Sato no Koen Higashi', then left toward the southern woodland; the site is about 300 m north of JR Nobiru Station near residential areas, and police are patrolling and warning residents.
Higashimatsushima Nobiru, Miyagi
At around 17:35 on the 12th, a resident in Higashimatsushima City, Nobirugaoka 1-chome, spotted a bear about 1 meter long crossing a road. The bear emerged from a forest to the north, crossed the municipal road near Sato no Koen Higashi, and left toward the southern forest; the site is about 300 meters north of JR Nobiru Station and police are patrolling the area and urging caution.
Higashimatsushima Nobiru, 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 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
On May 2 a bear-like animal was sighted on the mountain designated as an evacuation site, so Ishinomaki Otayachi Elementary School postponed the tsunami evacuation drill for children that had been scheduled for May 7, when they would walk to the mountain.
Ishinomaki 小船越, 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 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
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
Around 13:55 on the 25th, five elementary school children playing near a grove in Tsurugayanorth 2-chome, Miyagino-ku, Sendai, sighted two bears about 1 meter long. The children evacuated to a friend's house with no injuries; there have been no further sightings, and police are warning residents near nearby schools (Nankodai Higashi elementary and junior high) and housing areas.
Sendai Tsurugaya, Miyagi
On April 25, 2026 at about 13:55, two bears about 1 meter long were sighted by an elementary school pupil in Tsurugaya-kita 2-chome, Miyagino Ward, Sendai. Earlier that day at about 07:30 two bears were seen on a road in Sambongi Otonashi, Osaki, and at 13:40 one bear was sighted in a rice field in Komatsu, Higashimatsushima; no human or property damage has been reported. Police are patrolling and urging caution.
Sendai Tsurugaya, Miyagi
I saw a bear sleeping at the entrance of the bamboo grove next to the joint seaweed processing plant in Hama City.
Higashimatsushima Hamaichi, Miyagi
On the morning of April 23, 2026, one bear was sighted in Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi Prefecture, and reported to the city office. Around 10:00 a.m., a person driving near Joge-tsutsumi in Higashimatsushima saw a bear crossing a national route north–south and reported it.
Higashimatsushima Jogetsutsumi, Miyagi
A bear that appeared in Kicho-dori 2-chome, Aoba Ward, Sendai City was captured by the city using emergency shooting. The city received a total of 12 opinions regarding that decision, including protests such as "do not cull"; 5 were negative from an animal welfare perspective, 2 supported prompt removal, and 5 were comments on bear-countermeasure policies.
Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi
A single adult male bear (about 1.5 m long, 125 kg) remained in the shrubbery behind an apartment building in Kichōdori 2-chome, Aoba Ward, Sendai. Contractors fired two darts with a tranquilizer gun in the early evening, and the bear was captured (and subsequently euthanized) around 19:30. No injuries were reported.
Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi
A single bear, believed to be the same individual sighted since the night of the 18th, remained in vegetation in Sendai's Aoba-ku, Kimachidori 2-chome from early on the 19th and, after staying for more than ten hours, was culled by an emergency shooting around 18:30 on April 19. The appearance in the city center shocked residents and prompted concern and precautions from nearby schools.
Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi
An adult male bear about 1.5 m long and 125 kg remained for over 10 hours in vegetation behind an apartment in central Sendai (Aoba-ku, Kichomachi-dori). The city fired two tranquilizer darts after 18:20 to sedate it and then euthanized it with an electric shock; there were no injuries.
Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi
On April 19, 2026, an adult male bear about 1.5 m long and weighing approximately 125 kg stayed for over 10 hours at a condominium in Komachidori 2-chome, Aoba Ward, Sendai. The city tried to capture it using a box trap but failed; shortly after 18:20 a contractor fired two darting shots that hit, and the bear was subsequently euthanized with an electric prod; there were no injuries reported.
Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi
A single bear about 1.5 m long remained for an extended period in the shrubs on the grounds of an apartment in Kimachidori 2-chome, Aoba-ku, Sendai. Police set up cordons and maintained surveillance while the city installed a box trap to capture the bear; no injuries have been reported.
Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi
A single male bear was sighted near an apartment in Kimachidori 2-chome, Aoba Ward, Sendai. After drone confirmation and attempts with a cage trap, two anesthetic darts were fired shortly after 18:20 and the bear was captured around 19:30. It measured about 1.5 m and weighed about 125 kg; no injuries were reported.
Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi
Peak activity at 13:00 with 7 incidents
Ursus thibetanus japonicus
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Over the past 30 days, 36 bear sightings have been recorded within 5 km of this route, including 15 in the past week. This route runs through Asian black bear habitat (native to Honshu and Shikoku).
The most recent sighting was reported 1 day ago near Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi; the location sits about 0 m from the start of the route and 1.0 km off the route line.
Recent sightings on this route peak around 13:00. Bears are generally most active at dawn and dusk.
This 124 km route from Kotodai Park to Kesennuma crosses Miyagi. Over the past 30 days, 36 bear sightings have been recorded within 5 km of the route, including 15 in the past week. This route runs through Asian black bear habitat (native to Honshu and Shikoku). The most recent sighting was reported 1 day ago near Sendai Futsukamachi, Miyagi; the location sits about 0 m from the start of the route and 1.0 km off the route line. The closest sighting to the route line was reported 2 weeks ago at Ishinomaki 小船越, Miyagi, sitting about 55.9 km from the start and 283 m off the route line. This is an active bear corridor. Drive through with full caution, but rerouting is the safer choice.
