It’s been over a year since Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, sent its four headline giant pandas back to China. A drop in tourism was widely expected, but the prefecture’s “tourist trends survey,” released in late August, shows visitor numbers have actually stayed above the previous year’s levels even after the pandas left. On 5ch, some took the figures at face value, saying “guess we didn’t need the pandas after all,” while others pushed back with data, noting that “Adventure World itself — the town’s main earner — has actually seen fewer visitors” and “some months are down 50,000 to 100,000 people year-on-year.” Opinion split over whether the reported increase reflects the town as a whole or just its flagship attraction.
It’s been over a year since the leisure facility “Adventure World” in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, sent all four of its headline giant pandas back to China at once.
Locally, a sharp drop in tourism was expected, but looking at the prefecture’s “tourist trends survey” for last year, released in late August, the total number of visitors to the town and attractions like Shirahama Onsen actually exceeded the figures from the year before that, and has held at roughly the same level in the months since the pandas’ return.
According to the town’s own survey, visitor numbers have remained strong into this year as well.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
I realized I'd never actually seen one in person
Are you me?
Pandas through glass
are even worse than watching them on a screen!
When I saw one at Ueno it was asleep, so I thought they'd just put out a stuffed toy
Its fur was grubbier than I expected — honestly the plush version might be cuter
Aren't they just putting on a brave face
Hot springs
The beach
Adventure World
I'd say it's pretty blessed as a tourist spot
They used to do acrobatic flight displays at Shirahama Airport and Hidaka Port, but now it sounds like they do it at Shirarahama Beach — the venue's gotten worse, total trash, well, more like way too crowded, so forget it
Only half a day, huh
And here Abe was trying to make it happen
For the mayor, as long as the town as a whole is thriving, that's good enough
The main earner, Adventure World, is actually down
But they're using public money to court inbound tourists, and that's doing pretty well
Costs went down too
No more huge rental fees
No more dedicated panda team staying overnight for care
No more gourmet bamboo either
Didn't need to make a whole news story out of it though lol
Must be rough for the professional complainers
and tourism just keeps booming?
Well, good for them, good for them.
No, actually — they've been actively courting Chinese tourists,
and that's what's driving the increase
They remain Chinese property throughout. Panda diplomacy is really a message of subservience — you can hardly call it diplomacy.
https://x.com/GrwaNnKqMn5nG68/status/1918027695616868673
During COVID it couldn't be returned and ended up dying of heart disease at the zoo…
I wonder if Oji Zoo had to pay the 56 million yen…
What are you even talking about
It says right there: numbers have stayed about the same even in the months after the pandas were returned.
According to the town's survey, visitor numbers are still holding up strong this year too.
That's literally what it says though
I saw a thread saying the limited express between Shirahama and Shingu is set to be discontinued
If tourism were really up they wouldn't be cutting the express service
so Re: #1 is a fabricated, bogus article
Re: #1's explanation isn't very convincing, but
maybe it's just because Japan overall is seeing an abnormal tourism boom
Looking at this, since the pandas were returned in June '25 the numbers are down roughly 50,000-100,000 year-on-year most months though
7
That data makes it pretty clear Re: #1 is a bogus article
Sounds like the May-June rush before the pandas left outweighed the drop-off from July onward
If visitors went up after they left, that means the pandas were actually a negative
Panda diplomacy (lol)
South American capybaras never get used as diplomatic bargaining chips.
#ZeroPandas
#China
https://x.com/ProfShimada/status/2081126928552272276
Toba Aquarium already keeps a ton of capybaras
They were covered in crap, pretty filthy honestly
and besides the main exhibit they had a bunch more crammed into a corner outside
Background and points of debate
The four giant pandas were on loan from China under a “Japan-China joint breeding research” arrangement, and their return was simply a matter of the lease ending. It’s worth noting that the figures making headlines here come from the “tourist trends survey” covering the broader Shirahama town and Shirahama Onsen area as a whole — a separate statistic from visitor numbers at Adventure World, the flagship attraction, specifically. Commenters on the thread picked up on this distinction, pointing out that “nobody’s saying whether Adventure World’s own numbers went up” and that “the main earner is actually down,” suggesting the flagship facility may be struggling even as town-wide figures look good. There’s also a discrepancy between the prefecture’s published statistics and year-on-year data independently compiled by a private site, and opinions split over how much the post-panda decline from July onward offset the pre-return rush in May and June. Figures for the panda rental fee and penalty payments in the event of death were also cited in the replies, but since the source was a social media post rather than an official statement from the municipality or a zoo, this article cannot confirm their accuracy.
*This article is compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Wakayama] Tourist numbers up even with zero pandas — Shirahama’s mayor on the past year: “We got a flood of complaint calls to city hall, but now…”“.
