US EditionTokyo Pandas Head for China, Leaving Japan Bereft of Beloved Bears
The pandas’ return ends over 50 years of continuous presence in Japan amid diplomatic tensions sparked by military intervention remarks, affecting cultural and diplomatic ties.
- On Tuesday, two hugely popular pandas Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao will leave Ueno Zoological Gardens for China, ending Japan's more than 50-year run with pandas.
- Last month, officials announced the sudden return during a diplomatic spat triggered by Sanae Takaichi, Prime Minister of Japan, hinting Tokyo could intervene militarily over Taiwan, provoking Beijing's ire.
- Ueno Zoo invited 4,400 online-lottery winners to see the pandas for the last time on Sunday, and many panda fans still gathered, with Gen Takahashi saying `I feel like seeing pandas can help create a connection with China too, so in that sense I really would like pandas to come back to Japan again`.
- The spat has produced both economic pushback and zoo-level responses as Beijing discourages travel to Japan and chokes off rare-earth exports, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Government seeks a new panda pair.
- Masaki Ienaga argued the latest return may not be politically driven, noting China routinely removes pandas and the repatriation occurs a month before the February loan expiry, Tokyo Metropolitan Government said.
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13 Articles
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Tokyo pandas head for China, leaving Japan bereft of beloved bears
Two hugely popular pandas are set to depart from a Tokyo zoo for China on Tuesday, leaving Japan without any of the beloved bears for the first time in more than 50 years.
Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei were born at the Tokyo Zoo in 2021.
The last two pandas Japan had will return to China this Tuesday, amid diplomatic tension between the two countries. Other news: The Pearl seeks definitive home for more than 300 pets who have more than ten years Thousands of people came to the Ueno zoo in Tokyo on Sunday to fire the twins Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, between cheers and tears. Sadness in Japan by firing their last pandas before returning them to China Japan runs out of pandas for the f…
The twins' departure will leave Japan without a single panda for the first time since 1972.
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