A police warning earlier this week that a man who had served a prison term for kidnapping and killing a boy had disappeared from a psychiatric hospital led to the cancellation of classes at some schools in Iwate Prefecture, it was learned Thursday.
The man was found Wednesday morning in Tokyo.
Police informed the Morioka municipal board of education of the man's physical characteristics and criminal history. They did not disclose his name.
"We considered the safety of residents the top priority," said Yoshiharu Sasaki, deputy chief of the Morioka East Police Station.
Some elementary and junior high schools in Morioka and surrounding areas canceled classes and told pupils to go home in groups Tuesday after the prefectural and city boards of education warned them.
According to police, the man vanished Tuesday morning while taking a walk with his family outside the hospital in Morioka. The hospital and family alerted police later in the morning.
The hospital allowed the man to go out because it deemed him mentally stable and not a threat to others, police said.