{"id":20384,"date":"2025-06-28T00:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T00:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/20384\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T00:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T00:03:14","slug":"japanese-fans-say-goodbye-to-a-giant-panda-family-before-they-return-to-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/20384\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese fans say goodbye to a giant panda family before they return to China"},"content":{"rendered":"

SHIRAHAMA, Japan (AP) \u2014 Thousands of fans bid a teary farewell Friday to a family of four giant pandas<\/a> at a zoo in Japan\u2019s coastal town of Shirahama as the animals made their last public appearance before their return to China.<\/p>\n

Around 3,000 visitors flocked to the Adventure World theme park to get a last glimpse of the beloved animals. Many rushed straight to the panda exhibit zone, calling out the names of their favorites.<\/p>\n

Although the 24-year-old mother Rauhin and her three daughters \u2014 Yuihin, Saihin and Fuhin \u2014 were all born and raised at the park, they remain on loan from China and must now be returned.<\/p>\n

Once they return to China, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei at Tokyo\u2019s Ueno Zoo<\/a> will be the only pandas left in Japan.<\/p>\n

More than 1,000 people, many wearing panda-themed attire, queued outside the entrance of the theme park hours before it opened while some camped outside the night before.<\/p>\n

\"Giant<\/p>\n

\n Giant panda Saihin, one among the four pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China sits inside an enclosure at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ayaka McGill)\n <\/p>\n

Giant panda Saihin, one among the four pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China sits inside an enclosure at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ayaka McGill)<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/p>\n

\n A visitor takes a photo of Yuhin, one among the four pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ayaka McGill)\n <\/p>\n

A visitor takes a photo of Yuhin, one among the four pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ayaka McGill)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors attend farewell ceremony for four giant pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China on their last day of public viewing at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ayaka McGill)<\/p>\n

Visitors attend farewell ceremony for four giant pandas on loan to Japan which will soon be heading back to China on their last day of public viewing at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ayaka McGill)<\/p>\n

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Some people wiped off tears while viewing throwback images of the pandas when they were cubs.<\/p>\n

Yoshihiko Fukuzumi recalls the arrival of the first two pandas at the park 30 years ago and has watch their family grow. Since retiring three years ago, he and his wife have visited them nearly everyweek. \u201cTo us, they are like our grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giant pandas are native to southwestern China and serve as an unofficial national mascot. Beijing lends them to other countries as a sign of goodwill but maintains ownership over them and any cubs they produce.<\/p>\n

Born in 2000, Rauhin had seven other cubs with Eimei, a male panda sent from China in 1994. Eimei returned home two years ago and has since died.<\/p>\n

Despite strained political ties between Japan and China, giant pandas are hugely popular in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel comforted just by looking at pandas,\u201d said zoo director Koji Imazu. <\/p>\n

Imazu said the departure of the four pandas marks the end of the zoo\u2019s 30-year joint project with China. He thanked Chinese specialists for sharing their expertise with the Japanese staff and said the zoo will be ready for a new arrival at any time. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors watch screening of one of the giant pandas leaving for China at a farewell ceremony at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ayaka McGill)<\/p>\n

Visitors watch screening of one of the giant pandas leaving for China at a farewell ceremony at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ayaka McGill)<\/p>\n

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\u201cOf course we all miss them, but I hope you could send them off with a cheerful wave and wish them well in China,\u201d Imazu said. <\/p>\n

In Beijing, China\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said giant pandas are \u201cfriendly ambassadors\u201d conveying the goodwill of the Chinese people.<\/p>\n

Guo said that China and Japan have collaborated on panda conservation and research since 2000, and that China is ready to further strengthen international cooperation, including with Japan.<\/p>\n

Rauhin and her daughters will be flown to China on Saturday where they will join other pandas at a facility in Sichuan province near their original habitat. There, the three young ones will find partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still can\u2019t believe they\u2019re all leaving,\u201d said Junko Ikeda, a Fuhin fan from neighboring Nara prefecture who spent Thursday night in her camper van for the send-off. \u201cI hope she finds a partner, becomes a mother and lives a happy life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SHIRAHAMA, Japan (AP) \u2014 Thousands of fans bid a teary farewell Friday to a family of four giant…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[18984,3425,13214,74,57,18983,170,18985,18986,159,67,132,68,837,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-20384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-amusement-parks","9":"tag-animals","10":"tag-asia-pacific","11":"tag-china","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-giant-pandas","14":"tag-japan","15":"tag-junko-ikeda","16":"tag-koji-imazu","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-wildlife","22":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114758064903026280","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}