The last two giant pandas remaining in Japan left Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Tuesday to return to China, marking the first time in 54 years that Japan will be without pandas. The twin pandas, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, were transported by truck from Ueno Zoo to Narita Airport to board a flight back to China, according to a Xinhua report. Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei were born in 2021 to their mother Shin Shin and her partner Ri Ri, who were returned to China in September 2024. Their older sister, the famous giant panda Xiang Xiang, returned to China in February 2023. Under a previous agreement between China and Japan, the pair from Ueno Zoo was scheduled to return in February 2026. Local media reported that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government consulted with the Chinese side on the specific date and agreed to advance the return by about a month. Last June, four other giant pandas from a zoo in Japan's western Wakayama Prefecture were also sent back to China. Following the departure of Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, Japan will be without giant pandas for the first time since the arrival of the pair Lan Lan and Kang Kang in 1972 to commemorate the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
