Japanʼs last pandas return to China as relations between the countries sour

China is withdrawing the last pandas from Japan, leaving the country without any giant pandas for the first time in half a century.

BBC and CNN write about this.

Twin pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei were born in Japan in June 2021. Their parents, Xin-Xin and Ri-Ri, were returned to China in 2024.

Thousands of people gathered at Tokyo Zoo on January 25 to bid farewell to Japanʼs last remaining pandas. Visitors were left in tears.

After the departure of Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei on January 27, Japan will be without a single giant panda for the first time in half a century.

The first pair of pandas arrived in Japan from China in 1972 as a sign of normalization of relations between the countries.

China considers these animals a national treasure and has used them to strengthen diplomatic relations with other countries since 1949. The PRC lends bears to foreign zoos, who must return their cubs to China after a few years. This is called “panda diplomacy”.

China decided to withdraw the last animals from Japan amid worsening relations after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November 2025 that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could provoke a military response from Japan.

Beijing responded by reducing flights, banning the export of dual-use goods, and urging its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan.

The number of Chinese tourists in Japan last month almost halved compared to last year, to 330 000.

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