Japanese fans rushed to farewell the country’s last two pandas ahead of their return to China, in a departure that highlights strained relations between the two countries.
According to CNN, twin cubs Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei will leave Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo Tuesday after meeting their fans for the last time on the weekend.
They were born in the Japanese capital, but China retains ownership over them, under the rules of Beijing’s “panda diplomacy.” The government there treats pandas as national symbols and goodwill ambassadors, loaning them to countries with which they wish to strengthen ties.
The duo’s departure leaves Japan without any pandas for the first time in more than five decades, at a time when relations between Asia’s two biggest economies are at their lowest point in years.
Visitor Shoken Ikeda told CNN, “I’m really sad. We always said, ‘There’s a panda here, so we’ll get to see it sometime,’ and then this happened. I wish I’d come more often.”
Another panda fan Yukie Kuyama said she lined up for five hours to see the animals in early December. After winning the lottery, she came to see them again last week.
The two pandas were born in 2021 at the Ueno Zoo, to mother Shin Shin and father Ri Ri. The parents were returned to China in 2024, a year after the twins’ sister Xiang Xiang was also sent back.
Japan welcomed its first pandas in 1972 to mark the normalization of diplomatic ties with China. Since then, more pandas have arrived or were born locally, gaining a huge following.
But remarks from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, suggesting that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger a military response from her country, has recently drawn criticism from China.
