<figure id="attachment_467230" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-467230" style="width: 3678px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0546de20"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/45c03ea70bdf8d296f9d67032f899417.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-467230" class="wp-caption-text">There&#8217;s a bear out there!&#8221; A series of sightings in late April visited Hanno, where residents must be spending tense days</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> in a residential area of Saitama!</span></h3>
<p> In April, &#8220;spring bears,&#8221; or bears that have come out of hibernation, began appearing one after another across Japan, and on May 7, a woman who had gone missing while out gathering wild vegetables in Hachimantai City, Iwate Prefecture, was found in cardiopulmonary arrest and is believed to have been attacked by a bear.</p>
<p> In Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture, 50 minutes by express train from Ikebukuro, Tokyo, there was also a string of bear sightings at the end of April.</p>
<p> At around 0:45 a.m. on April 20, a bear-like animal measuring approximately 1 meter in length was reportedly seen in Misugidai 2-chome, Hanno City. The sighting took place on the east side of Misugidai Elementary School, under the pedestrian bridge over Misugidai Street. The witness saw the bear-like animal from inside a car, and its appearance was also recorded on a drive recorder.</p>
<p> Another bear-like animal sighting was reported in Misugidai 1-chome, Hanno City, at around 4:00 p.m. on April 30.</p>
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<p> On April 14, Hanno City held its first &#8220;emergency gun hunting&#8221; drill by the prefectural government.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The &#8220;emergency gun hunting&#8221; system was introduced in September of last year, and allows the mayor of a municipality to decide on the hunting of animals at his or her discretion, without waiting for a conventional police order, when there is an urgent need to prevent harm to residents.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The prefectural government has been increasing its vigilance in mountain forests and riverbeds because bear appearances increase sharply from March to June after hibernation, and the drill was conducted as a part of this. About 130 people from the prefectural government, prefectural police, hunting clubs, and local governments in the prefecture participated in the drill, and confirmed the operational procedures and division of roles to exterminate bears quickly using firearms while ensuring the safety of residents.</span></p>
<p> The background to this was the rapid increase in bear sightings and population in Saitama Prefecture.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> According to a summary by Saitama Prefecture, the latest survey showed that the estimated population in the prefecture is up to about 690 bears, a four-fold increase since the survey conducted five years ago.</span></p>
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<p> (The same source) Although there have been reports of bear sightings in Hanno City in the past, most of them were in mountainous areas, such as along mountain trails. However, &#8220;on the east side of an elementary school,&#8221; is this not a perfect living area? When we checked the map, we found that the two bear sightings in Misugidai were in a residential area.</p>
<p> Until now, most bear sightings in residential areas in Honshu have been in the Tohoku region of Japan, but are bears now appearing in residential areas in Hanno City, which is within commuting distance to the city center? The prefecture and the city must have anticipated this, which is why they conducted &#8220;emergency gun hunting&#8221; drills.</p>
<p> I visited the area during GW to find out how many residents in the area are living in fear of bears.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" They were walking around with bear repellent bells."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">We talked to the people on site.</span></h3>
<p> On May 5, Hanno City was under a cloudless blue sky. The temperature at 1:00 p.m. was about 20 degrees Celsius. Although the sun was shining strongly, a cool breeze was blowing, so it did not feel too hot.</p>
<p> After exiting the south exit of Hanno Station, walk straight down Misugidai Street with your back to the station for about 20 minutes, and you will come to a pedestrian bridge under which a bear was seen on April 20. There is a residential area at both ends of the pedestrian bridge. When we asked a man in his 60s who was walking nearby about the bear sighting, he replied, &#8220;A bear was running under here.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I saw on the news that a bear was running under here. I also heard that a bear was seen in a park on 1st Street the other day, and there was a sign saying, &#8216;Please be careful. So until recently, I thought it was scary and took a walk with a bear repellent bell.&#8221;</span></p>
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<p> However, it is not as if he is still wary today.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t carry it anymore in the daytime,&#8221; he says. But I do see some people walking in the dark hours, such as early in the morning or in the evening, carrying a bell to protect them from bears.</span></p>
<p> A man washing his car in front of a detached house near the pedestrian bridge also saw the news of the bear sighting.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> I saw on the news that a bear was running under the pedestrian bridge there in the middle of the night. I was surprised to see a bear running under the pedestrian bridge in the middle of the night.　I was surprised. But I thought that bears don&#8217;t come out during the daytime, so I just took it easy.</span></p>
<p> The area from Misugidai Elementary School to Misugidai 1-chome is densely populated with single-family houses, although there are some vacant lots and parks. The area is a quiet residential area except for the occasional sound of children&#8217;s laughter. The mountains are certainly close by. Do bears come down here at night?</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" An unexpected &quot;identity&quot;?"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Still, mountains are dangerous</span></h3>
<p> In Misugidai 1-chome, where the second sighting was reported, there is a large park called Misugidai Park, where soccer teams were practicing, families were taking a walk, and people of all ages were enjoying their vacations.</p>
<p> The back of Misugidai Park is a bit like a forest, with trees growing thickly. When I asked a man in his fifties, who was just taking a walk, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;There was a news report about a bear around here,&#8221;</span> he said with a wry smile, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Yes, there was.</span></p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8216;There are wild boars and badgers and everything around here, but no bears, as you&#8217;d expect. They must have mistaken us for antelope. They are quite large and black. When I first saw an antelope, I thought it was a bear, and for a moment I was terrified.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When you look at a cowering antelope from behind, it looks like a bear. The first time I mistook it for an antelope, I looked closely and saw that it was an antelope. I saw them so often that for a while I used to take pictures of them with my camera.</span></p>
<p> Were the bear sightings that occurred one after another at the end of April the result of antelope sightings? The Agricultural Promotion Division of the Environment and Economy Department of Hanno City Hall explained, &#8220;If there are any bear sightings, we would like to know about them.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> We confirm all bear sightings onsite. First of all, as for the sighting late at night on the 20th, there were no bear tracks or droppings at the site. We also checked the drive recorder and it was jumping around. Experts from the hunting club and other organizations said this is not the way bears walk.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> As for the sighting on the 30th, the exact location is in a residential area. I actually went to the site of the sighting, but again, there were no signs of a bear. The only person who saw it was an elementary school student on his way home from school, and we decided that he must have mistaken it for an antelope. It was still light at 4 p.m., and there were people walking around, so the area was quite public.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It is well known to the locals that antelope live in that area, and there is a good chance that a brown-haired animal could have been mistaken for a bear when seen from behind. With the daily news about bears, people may think so when they see a large animal.&#8221;</span></p>
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<p> It seems that they were mistaken for antelope, after all. The person in charge of the area then warned, &#8220;Misugidai is close to the mountains.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The bear is used to antelopes, so there is a good chance that it will come out in the future. <wbr></wbr>The people in Misugidai are used to seeing antelopes, so I want them to be careful so that when a bear does appear, they won&#8217;t say, &#8216; <wbr></wbr>It&#8217;s an antelope again. <wbr></wbr>Of course, if there is a situation that could be dangerous to residents, we will inform them of the situation <wbr></wbr>via the disaster radio.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, there is always the danger of encountering a bear in the mountains. If you go into the mountains for hiking or other activities, please be sure to take the proper precautions beforehand, such as using a bell to repel bears.</span></p>
<p> It seems that the &#8220;bear sightings&#8221; in residential areas in Hanno City were mistaken. The residents of the city must be relieved. I looked for the Japanese serow, a national protected species, until late in the evening, but was unable to see it.</p>

<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" [Image] I walked around the site of the bear sighting report."></div>
<figure id="attachment_467231" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-467231" style="width: 3678px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ad7e75be"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/8c6a9df49c875f3c949f15737357784f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-467231" class="wp-caption-text">Under the pedestrian bridge over Misugidai Street where the sighting took place on April 20. A bear-like animal about 1 meter long was seen late at night. There is an elementary school just to the east.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_467379" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-467379" style="width: 3479px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="97b80770"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/ec55e3c32e10b974f865fd0a83cb769e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-467379" class="wp-caption-text"> An elementary school seen from near the sighting site (pedestrian bridge). If a bear was seen at this distance, it would be quite worrisome.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_467380" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-467380" style="width: 3479px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d6545dd4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/f987085ed11a41330c089d61022e6daf.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-467380" class="wp-caption-text"> Misugidai Park in Misugidai 1-chome, the site of the second sighting. The bear-like animal was actually spotted in a residential area.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_467233" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-467233" style="width: 3678px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="80aa6865"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/6f38c5a36334003218562c0450a3fdad.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-467233" class="wp-caption-text"> A poster in Misugidai Park. Immediately after the sighting, there was a sign that read &#8220;Beware of Bear,&#8221; but it was already gone.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_467234" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-467234" style="width: 3678px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="897fa5c3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/8e0c17f809aa1f70dcfed50b07c16681.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-467234" class="wp-caption-text"> A sign by the pedestrian bridge reads &#8220;Beware of Wasps.</figcaption></figure>


 Nakahira

 The number of areas where bears are seen is increasing year by year. In late April, there was a series of bear sightings in a residential area in Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture. When we visited the area to report on the tense lives of the residents, we were surprised to hear what they had to say...

A bear has appeared in a residential area in Hanno, Saitama?　The shocking revelation of “a string of sightings” after visiting the area.

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A bear has appeared in a residential area in Hanno, Saitama? The shocking revelation of “a string of sightings” after visiting the area.

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A bear has appeared in a residential area in Hanno, Saitama?　The shocking revelation of “a string of sightings” after visiting the area.