Japan waves goodbye to its last giant pandas amid China rift
Why Japan is unlikely to see pandas anytime soon
- Hundreds of Japanese fans gathered to bid an emotional farewell to twin giant pandas, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, as they departed Tokyo's Ueno Zoo for China on Tuesday.
- The four-year-old pandas' journey marks the first time in over five decades that Japan will be without giant pandas, as they head to a breeding facility in China.
- Ueno Zoo director Yutaka Fukuda expressed mixed emotions, feeling gratitude and anticipation for future breeding, alongside sadness at their departure.
- While the relocation was planned, some view their exit as reflecting deteriorating China-Japan relations, with China historically using “panda diplomacy” to influence allies.
- Giant pandas, native to China, typically return home after loan agreements expire, including cubs born overseas, with the first pandas arriving in Japan in 1972.