Japan to go panda-less as Ueno Zoo pair set to return to China
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Prospects for another panda loan to Japan, seen as a diplomatic symbol of friendship with China, remain uncertain.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
TOKYO – Popular twin pandas at a zoo in the Japanese capital are set to be returned to China in late January, the Tokyo metropolitan government said on Dec 15, leaving Japan without any pandas for the first time in around half a century and sparking public disappointment.
The last day of public viewing for male panda Xiao Xiao and his sister Lei Lei at Ueno Zoological Gardens – where they have lived since birth in 2021 – will be Jan 25.
The deadline for their return to China is approaching in February under a bilateral lease agreement between Tokyo and Beijing.
Because the two pandas in Tokyo were born to parents loaned for breeding research, ownership rests with China, which has long used the giant panda as a tool of diplomatic outreach and goodwill.
Prospects for another panda loan Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks on Taiwan
In response to the prospect of Japan being without any pandas, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the country “hopes to see continued exchanges through pandas”.
The top government spokesman, at a regular press conference, added that such exchanges “have long contributed to improving public sentiment in both Japan and China”.
In Beijing, when asked whether China plans to maintain cooperation with Japan on panda conservation in the future, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun avoided answering the question directly, saying the matter should be directed to the relevant authorities.
“I think the panda was a symbol of friendship. Under normal circumstances, I would want to see China loan them (to Japan) again, but I guess it is likely difficult given the current situation,” said a woman in her 70s from Chiba prefecture who was visiting a shopping street near the zoo with her husband.
A 78-year-old resident of Tokyo recalled waiting in line to see panda cub Xiang Xiang at the zoo in 2017 and lamented that children in Japan will not have the same opportunity.
In June, all four giant pandas on loan at the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture, departed for China, leaving only the Ueno pair in Japan.
Since the first pair of giant pandas arrived in Japan from China in 1972 to commemorate the normalisation of diplomatic ties, the animals have become beloved by the public and brought economic benefits as tourist attractions.
Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao were born to mother Shin Shin and her mate Ri Ri, which arrived at Ueno Zoo in February 2011 after the facility’s previous resident panda, Ling Ling, died in 2008.
The parents were returned to China in 2024, while elder sister Xiang Xiang returned in 2023.
Japan’s prospects of securing replacement pandas have dimmed after Ms Takaichi said in Parliament on Nov 7 that a Taiwan contingency could be a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan that may lead to action from the country’s defence forces in support of the US.
This angered China, as Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory and insists that the Taiwan issue is purely an “internal affair”.
In addition to Ueno Zoo and Adventure World, Kobe Oji Zoo in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture, was also previously home to pandas leased to Japan. KYODO NEWS
