Giant panda Xiao Xiao is on public display on the final viewing day at Ueno Zoo in Taito Ward, Tokyo, on January 25, 2026. Photo: VCG

The twin giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei currently at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo that are set to be returned to China marked their final day of public viewing on Sunday. Access was limited to visitors selected through an advance lottery, with the most competitive Sunday seeing odds as high as 1 in 24.6, according to NHK. Some Japanese netizens also took to the internet to express their reluctance to part with the pandas.

The two pandas will leave the zoo on Tuesday and travel to a breeding facility in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, where they will be received and, after a period of quarantine, opened to the public view, reported NHK.

On the final open day on Sunday, around 4,400 visitors selected through the advance lottery were expected to visit the twin pandas, said the report.

Quotas of 400 visitors were set every 30 minutes starting on Sunday morning, with an additional special quota of 100 visitors made available for the final 15 minutes, Asahi Shimbun reported.

According to the statistics of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the lottery for visits between January 14 and the final open day on Sunday received a total of more than 310,000 applications, and Sunday's lottery was the most competitive, with odds of 1 in 24.6, according to the NHK.

After the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced the return on December 15, 2025, Ueno Zoo drew large numbers of fans day after day, with queue time lasting more than five hours at their longest. From late December onward, advance applications were required for visits, said Asahi Shimbun.

According to TV Asahi, some people who were not selected in the lottery still went to Ueno Zoo on Saturday to soak in the atmosphere and say goodbye to the twin pandas.

On Sunday, some Japanese netizens also posted messages on social media platform X expressing their affection for and reluctance to part with the twins.

"Today is the last day to see the pandas. Xiaoxiao, Leilei, thank you, and please take good care," one post read.

Another Japanese netizen shared a photo of Lei Lei, writing that they never thought the day would come when there would be no pandas left in Ueno. "This is Leilei from the end of 2025. I hope she will live happily in China with companions."

"Panda diplomacy is diplomacy for peace. It is disheartening that decades of panda diplomacy came to an end in an instant," said a post.

On the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, a post with a Japan-based IP address published on Saturday night showed a message wall set up for the twin pandas inside Matsuzakaya Ueno. "The wall is covered with messages for the two giant pandas about to leave Ueno Park. The front wasn't enough, and the messages even spilled onto the sides," the post said.

When the two pandas depart Japan this time, it will mark the first time that there will be no pandas in the country since giant pandas arrived in Japan in 1972 to commemorate the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, said NHK. 

In responding to a question about the last two pandas in Japan will be returned to China, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that we've learned that based on the agreement between China and Japan, giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei living in Ueno Zoo in Tokyo will return to China as scheduled before February. For anything specific, I'd refer you to competent authorities.

"I know giant pandas are loved by many in Japan, and we welcome Japanese friends to come visit them in China," Guo said.

Global Times