On Pandas

So last Friday, I am sitting in a sauna with a bunch of naked Japanese women (I wonder how many hits those past three words will get me...), watching a TV that`s perched behind a glass wall.  It is set to one channel only, not that it makes a difference.  The screen reflects the usual expanse of wrecked coastlines, making it harder and harder to believe that seaside villages once stood there.

A spa employee comes in to change the towels, to see us all somberly watching the TV, probably sweating more than usual.

"So," the employee detracts our attention, "the pandas will debut at Ueno Zoo today!"

"Really?" My face lights up.  I had totally forgotten about the pandas. 

It has been three dark panda-less years since the last giant panda living in Ueno Zoo died in April of 2008.  Since then, the process of acquiring new pandas has been very trying, which can largely be attributed to Japan and China's supreme talent for pissing each other off.

Still all this had begun looking up back in late February, when two new pandas flew into Narita on a black and white panda themed jet.  After the Japanese changed the Panda's Chinese names from "Bili and Xiannu" to (the perhaps more chinese-sounding?) "Shin Shin and Li Li," the two new pandas were scheduled to debut in Ueno Zoo on Tuesday March 22nd.  

This obviously did not happen.  Aftershocks kept the zoo closed for weeks.  Until last Friday, when the decision was made to reopen again.  

Sitting in the sauna that day, the newscast behind the glass does eventually turn to coverage of the panda survivors, who, as it turns out, also lived through the catastrophic 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China.  And the pandas are hardly the only survivors at the zoo that day, as busloads of children from evacuation centers up north cheerfully tell members of the press that they have never seen giant pandas before and cannot wait to see them.

Luckily for me, the healing power of the panda is not limited to children.

Some days later, namely yesterday, I have assembled my crew and we head out to Ueno.  Now we expect it to be crowded, but what we see when we get there is beyond anything we could have imagined.  

Outside the zoo, there is a roped off maze of a line.  It is not the line to buy tickets.  Rather, it is the line to get on the line to buy tickets.  Then, once we are actually in the zoo, there is another line that stretches back past the elephants and monkeys before finally winding into the Panda house. 

At first, the very presence of all these lines reminds me of all the sad, hopeless queues of people I witnessed at every bus stop I passed on my long walk home the night of the earthquake.  

I remember wishing that somebody would just tell all those people that their bus was not coming.  In retrospect, however, maybe they already knew. Helplessly stranded, perhaps all those people just queued up around the city blocks together because they didn't want to be alone.

Back to the zoo, the odd thing is that I do not mind these lines at all.  I am actually enjoying myself.  I have not been surrounded by so many light-hearted, excited people since before the earthquake, and I am grateful for their close physical presence, even if it happens to take the form of a ridiculously long line. And at least the line is moving forward steadily.  Plus, my husband is kindly carrying all of my bags, which lightens my mood a lot and frees my hands to take pictures.

Then finally, at the end of an odyssey, we behold our lazy heros.  One of whom is pictured below, sleeping.

What is it about this fuzzy lump of black and white fluff that has managed to lift people`s spirits so much?  

I don't know.  I don't need to know.  I don't even care.  

All I know is that with Disneyland liquified, and Tokyo`s dumbass mayor trying to ban the seasonal cherry blossom parties, these pandas may really be our only hope for a collective smile.

Comments

[GeekyBlackGirl]

This seriously warmed my heart and soul. What a wonderful post. Everyone loves pandas. They are cute and cuddly, the latter only as stuffed animals. And with the tragedy that occurred in Japan, it's nice to read a blog post that brings a smile to my face.

[Jon]

What a cheerful post, great to hear the pandas have arrived and settled in.

Pleased to find you've started posting again. I found you from a tweet :

Japan_Blogs Geisha, Interupted: On Pandas: So last Friday, I am sitting in a sauna with a bunch of naked Japanese women (I... http://twurl.nl/ili4u3

on "Japan earthquake twitter list" on the Daily telegraph web page!

[Burnt out]

While I understand the intent of banning outward expressions of merriment, I too think ts a dumbassed idea. Being here in the States, can only imagine a smile or 2 is a better tonic than being told to be even more unhappy.

[Someone's Nana Mary]

What a great, happy post! So glad that you're back blogging again!! And looking forward to your new book, too!