Japan Bids Emotional Farewell to Last Pandas as China Ties Plummet Tokyo

By Suraj Karowa /ANW , Tokyo Japan

January 26, 2026 –

Twin cubs Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei will return to China on Tuesday.

Thousands queued in the biting winter cold outside Tokyo’s Ueno Zoological Gardens on Sunday, many waiting up to three-and-a-half hours for a final glimpse of giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei.

The twin cubs, born in 2021, are departing for China on Tuesday, leaving Japan without pandas for the first time since 1972 – the year Tokyo and Beijing normalized diplomatic relations.

Emotions overflowed as families, panda enthusiasts, and curious onlookers pressed against glass enclosures. “I’ve brought my son here since he was a baby,” one mother told reporters, tears streaming.

“This will be a cherished memory.” Another visitor, who watched the cubs grow from tiny newborns, called their journey “pure joy.”

Emotions ran high at the Ueno zoo in Tokyo as fans bade the twin cubs farewell

Photos captured sobbing fans placing hands on the enclosure, a poignant symbol of goodwill amid fraying ties.

The pandas, offspring of loaned parents Shin Shin and Ri Ri, highlight China’s famed “panda diplomacy.”

Since 1949, Beijing has gifted or loaned over 1,000 pandas to more than 50 countries, retaining ownership and charging hosts about $1 million annually per pair.

Cubs born abroad belong to China, with loans typically lasting 10 years. These fluffy ambassadors have softened images during trade deals and tensions alike – think Edinburgh Zoo’s 2011 pandas tied to salmon and Land Rover exports.

Japan’s panda era began post-1972 thaw but now ends in discord. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent vow to intervene militarily if China invades Taiwan ignited fury in Beijing, which claims the island as sovereign territory and threatens force for “reunification.”

Some 108,000 people vied to get one of the 4,400 slots to see the pandas

Takaichi’s comments, amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff wars and “Board of Peace” overtures, escalated rhetoric.

China responded by tightening rare earth exports to Japan – critical for electronics and EVs – while Japan suspended its massive Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant restart.

Ueno officials reported 108,000 applicants for 4,400 farewell slots, underscoring the pandas’ cultural pull.

“They’re not just animals; they’re bridges between nations,” said zoo director Koichiro Yasuda.

Yet prospects for replacements dim. Extension requests linger unanswered, mirroring returns from San Diego, Berlin, and elsewhere as loans expire.

This saga unfolds against broader Asia-Pacific strains. Trump’s 100% tariff threats on Canada for China dealings, TikTok’s U.S. carve-out, and whispers of China leading the AI race via models like Qwen and DeepSeek amplify unease.

Myanmar’s junta-backed election and Russia’s Greenland gloating add to global flux.Panda diplomacy’s chill signals deeper rifts.

Post-2012 Senkaku/Diaoyu island clashes, China halted new loans to Japan until 2016. Now, with Taiwan as flashpoint, experts fear a “panda winter.”

“These returns aren’t just logistical; they’re political,” says Dr. Helen Castells, panda diplomacy researcher at Peking University.

“Beijing uses them to reward friends, punish foes.”Japan, panda-less, joins a club. Scotland’s pandas returned in 2023; Austria’s in 2024.

Conservation wins persist – wild populations hit 1,900 per recent censuses, up from 1,100 in 1980, thanks to reserves and loans funding research. But sentimentally, Japan mourns.

Social media buzzes with #SayonaraPandas, memes blending cute cubs with Taiwan maps.As Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei board their flight – bamboo-stocked, vet-checked – questions loom.

Will Japan pivot to alliances like Trump’s peace board, excluding China? Or seek panda proxies from allies? Beijing, probing its top general, stays mum.For now, Ueno empties, hearts heavier.

Panda diplomacy, once icebreaker, freezes in Tokyo’s chill.