The entrance to the Japanese city of Shiraham is a statement about the intentions: “Panda -City”, says on a poster that receives hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to the place to see charismatic black and black bears. Nevertheless, everything is going to change dramatically: the animals were declared by China, the country that gave them until 1994, and the explanation, according to the visible, is in a diplomatic meeting.
Another time it was known Onsen -Theros of volcanic origin of Japan, are considered the oldest in the country. But the fever for these traditional bathrooms decreased by the end of the 20th century, and the city was re -invented in 1994, when it received the first two pandas prescribed by China -Youhin and Eimei-, the stars of the local zoo and the new tourist statement of the city. Four bears who currently live in Shiraham -Raukhin, 24 years old, and her daughters Yuikhin, 8 years old, 6 -year -old and Fuehan, 4-, are a generation that has already been born in the city, but continue to belong to China.
The Panda Agreement exists between China and several countries – even the United States – and is in the sample to strengthen commercial ties. In general, the pandas give themselves for 10 years, but if the puppy is born in foreign zoos, it must be returned at the age of four. Now the Asian giant has completed the agreement and requested the return of four animals. Although there is no official explanation, some experts suggest that the end of Panda’s Diplomacy can be explained by the mayor chosen by the city last year, Yasuhiro OE, Professional TaiwanThe territory that China claims to be its own and which the tension of a possible occupation is constantly flying.
The scale of the economic coup is giant, because this business was economic support for most of the 20,000 city residents located 145 kilometers south of Osaka. In statements CNNKatsukhiro Miyamoto, an honorary professor of economics at the University of Kanzai, according to estimates, the city received 125.6 billion yen ($ 870 million) in the form of income thanks to the Panda economy over the past three decades. Without them, as he expects, the city will lose about 200,000 visitors per year, which will lead to about 6,000 million yen ($ 41 million) less, 40% of the annual budget of ShirahamaField
In addition to monetary embezzlement, the absence of pandas will bite jobs and accelerate the depopulation, forcing young generations to look for their future in other cities with great employment opportunities. A walk around the city gives confidence in the assessment of Miyamoto: the dependence of tourism with pandas can be seen in a topic that extends in hotels, souvenir shops, trading machines, in ramen, with soup bowls, in which the bear’s face swims and even on the train that reaches the city.
Mayor O.E. He claims that he has “Plan B” to cover the loss of panda tourism and would find it precisely in the enemy area for China: to attract more Taiwanese travelers. Meanwhile, doubts among merchants are supported: do you continue to sell or not merchandising Panda, when they are no more? When Japan no longer leave four shyrahama bears, two who live in the zoology of the Ueno area in Tokyo, but their lease expires next year and it is still unknown whether it will be expanded.
