At 12:14 a.m. on Oct. 25, the first report came in: A wild boar was spotted near an eight-story office building 600 meters east of Chiba Station, a bustling transportation hub surrounded by department stores and commercial high-rises.
According to more than a dozen eyewitness accounts gathered by the police in the hour that followed, the beast made its way toward a nearby 7-Eleven before heading to a junior high school across the street.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of an inoshishi (wild boar) showing up around here,” a female clerk at the convenience store tells The Japan Times a few days after the furry omnivore made headlines.