SHIRAHAMA, Japan, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) — Eimei, a large panda that has lived in Japan for 28 years, left west Japan’s Wakayama park alongside along with his twin daughters to fly again to China on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old male panda, alongside along with his eight-year-old Japan-born twin daughters Ouhin and Touhin, has left their present house at Adventure World, a theme park within the city of Shirahama in Wakayama prefecture.
Around 7:15 p.m. native time, the three pandas boarded a airplane that may take off from the Kansai International Airport to a facility in southwest China’s Sichuan province, escorted by Koji Imazu, director of the park.
Prior to their departure, a farewell ceremony was held on the park on Tuesday afternoon, joined by a crowd of two,000 guests, and was livestreamed on YouTube for 13,000 viewers.
“The Eimei family has established a deep friendship with the Japanese people with irreplaceable and special contributions to the promotion of Sino-Japanese people-to-people friendship,” Chinese Deputy Consul General in Osaka Fang Wei stated on the ceremony.
The three pandas returning to China will at all times be shared stars and witnesses to the friendship between China and Japan, stated Fang when delivering a speech on behalf of Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian.
On Tuesday, the well-known Japan-born feminine large panda Xiang Xiang left Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo and arrived at a large panda analysis and breeding facility within the metropolis of Ya’an of Sichuan.
Tuesday additionally marked the three pandas’ last public look in Japan, when many followers waited hours in line on the park, some in tears, to bid goodbye by taking images of Eimei and Touhin munching on bamboo.
Touhin’s twin sister, Ouhin, was not on show as she was displaying indicators of being in warmth.
“I captured the image of Eimei enjoying the food with his eyes closed!” Aya Ito stated with a lot pleasure as she walked out of the panda home. “One day when I turned to the last page of Eimei’s memorial album and saw his smiling face, I immediately booked a round-trip ticket for this final visit.”
The inside designer who now works in Tokyo informed Xinhua that she has not too long ago been motivated to study Chinese due to the pandas, hoping to go to them in China in the future.
Eimei, or Yong Ming in Chinese, along with his age the human equal of 90, is the oldest large panda dwelling in Japan. Coming from China in 1994, it’s fondly nicknamed “Super Papa” for fathering 16 large panda cubs born at Adventure World, setting the world file for being the oldest large panda to have efficiently bred in captivity.
Last yr, Eimei was appointed as a particular envoy for Sino-Japan friendship.
Thanks to the pleasant cooperation between the Adventure World and the analysis base of large panda breeding in China’s Sichuan province, Wakayama and Sichuan cast a prefecture-province friendship relationship in January 2022, stated Shuhei Kishimoto, governor of Wakayama prefecture.
Upon the pandas’ return, solely 4 large pandas, all females, might be dwelling on the Adventure World.