Japan’s legions of panda-lovers bid farewell to beloved pair in Tokyo

Saturday was a bittersweet day for panda-lovers around the country.

Over 2,000 sad, yet grateful, fans of the animals gathered at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo from early in the day to bid their final tearful goodbyes to a beloved pair of giant pandas, Ri Ri and Shin Shin.

“I’m deeply moved,” Mayuko Sumida, an office worker in her 40s who had come all the way from Aichi Prefecture to spend some final moments with the pair, said through tears. Sumida says she has visited the zoo once or twice a month to see the pandas since she fell in love with the black-and-white animals 12 years ago.