Twin pandas at a zoo in Tokyo are set to be returned to China in late January, leaving none in Japan for the first time in around half a century, a source close to the matter said Monday.
The deadline for the return of Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, which have lived at Ueno Zoological Gardens since their birth in 2021, is approaching in February under a bilateral lease agreement between Tokyo and Beijing.
Prospects for another panda loan, seen as a diplomatic symbol of friendship between Japan and China, remain uncertain amid the deteriorating relationship between the Asian neighbors following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks on Taiwan.
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 normalization of diplomatic ties, the iconic bears have become beloved by the Japanese public and brought economic benefits as tourist attractions.
The female panda, Lei Lei, and her brother, Xiao Xiao, were born to mother Shin Shin and her mate Ri Ri in June 2021 at Ueno zoo. The parents were returned to China in 2024.
Japan’s prospects of securing replacement pandas have been clouded after 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 defense forces in support of the United States.
This angered China as Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory and insists that the Taiwan issue is purely an “internal affair.”
