Japan’s Beloved Shanshan Returns to China! Panda Enthusiast Reunite in China

Shanshan has grown into an adult.

I have watched her grow since she was born, so I felt as if I was sending my own child to study abroad,” said photographer Takahiro Koji in an interview last May.

In an interview last May, photographer Takahiro Koji said, “I have watched Shanshan grow since she was born, so I felt like I was sending my own child to study abroad. Mr. Koji is a panda watcher who has been taking pictures of pandas at the Ueno Zoo almost every day for the past 13 years. He has delighted the eyes of many panda fans with his fascinating photos on his blog, “Pandas Everyday.

The “own child” mentioned at the beginning of this article is Shanshan, who was returned to China last February. For Mr. Gao, the return of Shanshan to China is like “sending my daughter from her parents’ home in Ueno to study in China. In an interview, he also said that he would like to visit her once her whereabouts is determined.

On November 8 of last year, that day finally arrived. The day finally came. I participated in a tour organized by the China Tourism Representative Office in Tokyo, which promotes exchange between Japan and China, and was reunited with Shanshan, who lives at the Ya’an Bifengxia Base, a giant panda conservation and research center in China.

Two months have passed since their reunion, and Mr. Gao is still very excited about the event.

Shanshan seemed to be spending her time in China in a relaxed and carefree manner.

Shanshan was first shown to the public in October of last year, eight months after China’s return to Japan. Mr. Gao recalls how anxious he was during that time.

I wondered if something had happened to him and if he was still alive and well. That is why I was relieved when the film was released to the public and I could see that he had finally gotten used to his new environment.

The chance to see Shan Shan again was exciting, but the journey to the base where Shan Shan lives was more distant than expected.

It took about four hours by train and bus from the airport in Chengdu, the nearest city to Ya’an, to the Ya’an Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya’an City in the western part of Sichuan Province.

The base, located in the middle of the forest, is about 15 times the size of the Tokyo Dome, and 60 pandas are being raised in a natural environment.

“On the first day we arrived at the facility and had a little time before the feeding exchange, so we had dinner with the tour participants and moved on when it was time to go. I was ready for the shutter, but I couldn’t tell which direction Shan Shan was coming from. I thought it was probably coming from this direction, but I was surprised to see it coming from the opposite direction. Rather than a moving reunion, it was more of a confused reunion (laughs).