News Black Bear Shoryo Elementary School area (Sakata), Yamagata Dec 18, 2025, 09:00 AM

Description

On the morning of December 18, 2025, one bear was repeatedly sighted in Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture, and elementary school students encountered the bear at a distance of about 50 meters. The bear was seen around 05:00 in Senbamachi 1-chome, at 05:47 in Minamishimmachi 1-chome, and multiple times near Shoryo Elementary School, and was last reported near the Katabami-so nursing home around 09:30 before its whereabouts became unknown; no injuries were reported.

Note: Official sources provide information in Japanese only. This description has been machine translated for your convenience.

Summary

On December 18 in Sakata, repeated bear sightings in the urban area culminated in elementary school children spotting a bear about 50 meters away during their commute. The city, police, hunting association and prefectural police helicopter searched the area; there were no injuries, and the bear went missing after a final sighting around 09:30.

Bear Type

Black Bear

Number of Bears

1

Provider Type

News

Date & Time

Thursday, December 18, 2025 at 09:00 AM

Address

Coordinates

38.931390, 139.834354

Sources