Japan’s Last 2 Pandas to Return to China in Jan.

Tokyo, Dec. 15 (Jiji Press)–Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei of Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo, the only remaining giant pandas in Japan, will be returned to China in late January, the Tokyo metropolitan government said Monday. The male-female twins were born at the zoo in the Japanese capital’s Taito Ward in 2021 and have remained there since then. An agreement between the Tokyo government and the China Wildlife Conservation Association stipulates that the twins be handed over to China, which retains ownership of all giant pandas in the world, by February 2026. The final viewing date for the two pandas at the zoo has been set for Jan. 25, with their return expected between Jan. 26 and 31. Advance reservation will be required to view them on or after Dec. 23. The metropolitan government has asked for a new pair from China, but it is unclear whether the request will be met. “Bilateral exchanges using giant pandas have contributed to improving public sentiment in both Japan and China toward each other, and I hope they will continue,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference Monday, expressing hopes for a new loan of pandas. Kihara said that Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei were “loved by many people for a long time,” and said he hopes the twins will live healthy lives in China as well. Several local governments and zoos in Japan have asked for pandas to be loaned to them, according to the top Japanese government spokesman. The departure of Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei will put an end to more than 50 years of panda conservation efforts in Japan, which started in 1972 with the arrival of Kang Kang and Lan Lan, a male-female pair, from China at Ueno Zoo to mark diplomatic normalization between the two countries in the same year. While the zoo has experienced a period without pandas, panda projects in Japan continued at other zoos, including Adventure World in the town of Shirahama in the western prefecture of Wakayama. The Wakayama zoo returned its four remaining pandas to China in June, making Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei the only pandas in Japan. A fishery goods store owner in his 60s in the popular Ameyoko shopping street near Ueno Zoo lamented the imminent departure of the twins, which he called “a symbol” of the Ueno district in Taito Ward. “It’s sad that Japan will (soon) have no pandas, but it involves diplomacy so it can’t be helped,” a worker in his 30s at an izakaya pub in the shopping street said. “I hope Japan-China ties improve and (pandas) return.” “We’ve always given up on viewing the pandas as we have to wait in a long line,” a woman in her 30s who was walking in front of the zoo with her 3-year-old daughter said. But she said, “I want my daughter to see them while they are still at the zoo.” “I want to see them before they go,” the girl told her mother with a smile. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]