Source: Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, September 29 (Reporter Jiang Qiaomei) To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, Japan Post will be released on September 29 to commemorative stamps with giant pandas as the theme. For half a century, China's "national treasure" giant panda has been deeply loved by the Japanese people. As a bond of China-Japan friendly relationship, it has witnessed the history of friendly exchanges between the two countries.
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" Panda Diplomacy " short story
On September 29, 1972, the Chinese and Japanese governments officially signed the " Sino-Japanese Joint Statement ", realizing the normalization of diplomatic relations.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira Granddaughter Manko Watanabe recalled a past event in an interview with Xinhua News Agency reporters a few days ago: "After the negotiation on normalization of diplomatic relations was completed, Foreign Minister Himeji (the then Chinese Foreign Minister Ji Pengfei) handed Dahei a note and said that as a symbol of friendship, (the Chinese government) decided to give this (giant gift) to Japan. Dahei looked at the 'giant panda' written on the note and asked in confusion, 'Is this a bear? Or a cat?'"
For half a century, the cute giant panda has undoubtedly become the most familiar and favorite friendliness of the Japanese people.
In November 1972, when Chinese giant pandas "Kang Kang" and "Lanlan" first met with audiences at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan, they became the interview center of the Japanese press. Xinhua News Agency issued
On October 28, 1972, the first batch of giant pandas "Kang Kang" and "Lanlan" traveling to Japan arrived in Tokyo by special plane. The then Chief Cabinet Secretary Nikaido Jin 2 went to the airport to greet him in person. From the airport to Ueno Zoo , police cars lead the way and escorted by more than 100 guards. In early November of the same year, when "Kangkang" and "Lanlan" made their first public debut, 60,000 tourists squeezed the Ueno Zoo out of nowhere. The following year, Ueno Zoo’s admissions hit a record high of 9.2 million. The Japanese anime " Cherry Maruko " once reproduced the scene of the whole nation sensation at that time and scrambling to see the giant panda.
In the past half century, more giant pandas have arrived in Japan and become the most popular "animal star" in many places in Japan. Taking the wild zoo as an example, the good news of the giant panda family in the park will not only make Japanese news headlines, but also bring economic benefits to surrounding restaurants and shops. The solicitation for naming cubs can always attract a large number of Japanese people to actively participate.
This is the giant panda cub "Leilee" (left) and "Xiaoxiao" (right) taken on August 5, 2021. Xinhua News Agency (Photo provided by Tokyo Zoo Association)
On June 23, 2021, the giant panda mother "fairy" of Ueno Zoo gave birth to a pair of "dragon and phoenix twins". On January 12 this year, the twin cubs "Xiaoxiao" and "Leilee" made their first public debut. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, only the lucky ones who were selected for lottery draws had the chance to see their style on that day, with the winning rate being only 1/348. On the same day, Ms. Arai from Yokohama said that she hopes that Japan and China will always be friendly with giant pandas as a bond.
Model of Sino-Japanese cooperation
Wakayama Prefecture's "Adventure World" Paradise in Shirahama-cho, Kayayama Prefecture has a huge panda family.
The names of giant panda babies born in "Adventure World" will be given the word "Bang". Currently, 11 of the 17 giant pandas of the "Bang" generation have been returned to China. On November 22, 2020, "Adventure World" ushered in the 17th giant panda cub "Fengbang". Her mother, Liangbang, was the first giant panda born in the "Adventure World". She gave birth to seven times and gave birth to a total of 10 babies. Dad "Yongming" just celebrated his 30th birthday in September this year and is the father of 16 giant panda cubs.
This is the birthday party of the giant panda cub "Maple Hama" filmed in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan on November 22, 2021. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Qiaomei
"Adventure World" breeds the largest number of litters in the international cooperation between giant pandas, becoming the largest artificial captive population of giant pandas overseas. "Adventure World" said that this fruitful result is due to their international scientific research cooperation with the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in China since 1994. Director Takagi Imatsu said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency reporters a few days ago that he hopes to further deepen exchanges between Japan and China in the future.
shoulders a special mission
On September 16 this year, the female giant panda " Dandan " celebrated her 27th birthday at the Kobe Municipal Prince Zoo in Japan.
Kobe City suffered heavy disasters in the 1995 Hanshin earthquake. The municipal government at that time proposed that it hopes to jointly carry out research on giant panda breeding and breeding with China to bring comfort and encouragement to citizens who are under post-disaster reconstruction. This request received an active response from China. "Dandan" and the male giant panda " Xingxing " arrived at the Prince Zoo in 2000 with a special mission, immediately setting off a craze in the local area. To this day, there are still "hard fans" who have emotionally recalled that the arrival of giant pandas has injected courage into themselves.
On July 28, 2000, the Kobe Municipal Prince Zoo held a ceremony to welcome a pair of Chinese giant pandas to the park. These are two Japanese children watching giant pandas. Xinhua News Agency published
"Dandan" has always been the most popular star in Prince Zoo. In 2020, the local postal department of Kobe also released a set of commemorative stamps with the theme "Thank you Dandan". Because "Dandan" suffered from heart disease, the park decided to suspend its public appearance from March this year, but it still displays its updates on social media every day to enjoy the majority of fans.
The head of Prince Zoo, Yujiro Kagu, told Xinhua News Agency reporters: "Giant pandas are a symbol of friendship between Japan and China. Over the past 22 years, 'Dandan' has won the love of Japan and the people of the world. Prince Zoo maintains good relations with China with 'Dandan' as a link, and hopes that this relationship will continue to the next fifty years." (Video reporter: Li Guangzheng; edited by: Shen Haoyang; editor: Ma Xiaoyan, Sun Hao, Wang Kewen)
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