The friction between Japan and China erupted on November 7, when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gave a speech to the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives regarding the Taiwan contingency. On November 20, the electronic version of the Beijing Daily reported that a researcher at the Center for Japanese Studies of Liaoning University said, “China is suspending new lending of pandas. On November 20, the electronic edition of the Beijing Daily reported the opinion of a researcher at the Japan Research Center of Liaoning University that “China will stop lending new pandas, and there is a possibility that Japan will no longer have any pandas. Currently, there are only two pandas in Japan, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei at the Ueno Zoo, and these two pandas are also scheduled to be returned to China in February 2026. Therefore, former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Yutaka Moriyama, who is also the chairman of the Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association, and others have requested China to lend them new pandas. The Chinese side was also positive, but the environment seems to be changing.” (Political reporter) With the possibility of the disappearance of pandas from Japanese zoos looming, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, who loves pandas so much that she sells original panda goods on her official website and is honorary president of the “Japan Panda Protection Society,” has been expressing her grief on SNS and other social media. The number of posts expressing sympathy for Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, who loves pandas so much that she sells original panda goods on her official website and is honorary president of the Japan Panda Protection Society, has been increasing rapidly. When she was six years old, an uncle on his way back from the U.S. gave her a stuffed panda as a gift. Kuroyanagi cherished the stuffed panda so much that he carried it in his backpack when Tokyo was hit by an air raid. Before the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, visits to China were restricted, so in 1968 she visited a zoo in London and saw a “live panda. It is easy to imagine Kuroyanagi’s disappointment if there were to be no pandas in Japan. X also received such postings as “The worry that Kuroyanagi Tetsuko will face when the pandas are gone is her sorrow,” “If the pandas are returned, I’m worried about Kuroyanagi Tetsuko’s health…,” and “I’m worried she’ll collapse from the shock. Some people wrote on SNS that “China is using pandas for political purposes,” and it would be a pity if the opportunity to be healed by their adorable appearance is lost.
