Tokyo, Jan 25 (EFE).— Japan bade an emotional farewell on Sunday to its last two pandas, as hundreds of fans gathered for a final glimpse of the twin siblings Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei before their imminent return to China, a departure that will leave the country panda-free for the first time in more than five decades.
Hundreds of enthusiasts gathered to bid farewell to the last two pandas in Japan, torn between sadness at their departure and joy at seeing Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei one final time.
The pandas are set to return to China amid ongoing bilateral tensions, leaving Japan without pandas for the first time since 1972. With no plans to receive new animals, Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo introduced a lottery system to manage overwhelming public demand to see them before their departure.
Amid exclamations of delight and occasional cries of “kawaii” (“cute”), visitors were ushered through in small groups, each granted only a few minutes with the animals. Lei Lei spent much of the time calmly chewing bamboo inside her glass enclosure.
For devoted fans like Tetsuka, dressed head to toe in panda-themed clothing, failing to secure a lottery slot was no deterrent.
“I did not win the lottery to see the animals today, but I really wanted to spend some time with them,” he told EFE. “It saddens me that they are leaving, but I hope they live happily and healthily in China.”
According to the Asahi Shimbun, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei are scheduled to return to China on Tuesday.
Diplomatic strains between Tokyo and Beijing, heightened by recent remarks from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi regarding Taiwan, have cast uncertainty over whether China will send new pandas to Japan.
Beijing has encouraged Japanese fans to travel to China to see the animals.
Asked this week about extending the loan or dispatching new pandas, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun declined to give a definitive response.
China’s so-called “panda diplomacy” ensures that the country retains ownership of the animals even when they are loaned abroad, giving Beijing an effective global monopoly on the species, with the sole exception of Xin Xin in Mexico.
In Japan, this practice began in 1972, when the first pandas arrived at Ueno Zoo following the normalization of bilateral relations.
Since then, Japan has hosted more than 20 pandas, generating widespread enthusiasm and significant economic benefits.
At Ueno Zoo alone, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei are estimated to have generated more than 30 billion yen (approximately 166 million euros) in economic impact during the first year after their public debut in 2021. EFE
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