I finally made it to Japan!!! I’ve been planning a Japan trip for years, however I didn’t quite intend for it to only include 2 pandas – I booked to go to Adventure World as well, and just a few weeks later, the announcement was made that the Adventure World pandas would return to China in July. So I was too late for them, but I wasn’t too late to see the final pandas in Japan at Ueno Zoo – Japanese-born twins Xiao Xiao 晓晓 and Lei Lei 蕾蕾!
Before I booked my trip for the end of November 2025, I had definitely seen online that the twins Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei would be leaving Japan for China at the start of 2026 – so I perhaps was cutting it close by waiting until the last few months, especially when the leaving date was brought forward into January. In the end I think I had perfect timing, getting in before it got too busy to go and see them. Even though my visit didn’t fall during their final weeks in Japan, there were always queueing systems in place to view the pandas and I got in when wait times weren’t too long. I heard the line for Lei Lei got up to 3 hours towards the end of January! While I was there the wait for Lei Lei ranged 50-70 minutes, and the wait for Xiao Xiao was 20-40 minutes. Staff could also close the lines when they needed to, so you wouldn’t necessarily be able to join the line at the last minutes of the zoo being open. Luckily I was always able to join a line when I wanted. At most places to see pandas you don’t generally need to line up to see them, so this is certainly a bit of an exception – for me it’s not a problem, I wanted to see them so I waited, and had experience waiting for Hua Hua in China before too. But being a regular at a Disney park, there’s always something to wait for, so an hour or so in a line isn’t that bad at all!
The pandas really were very well loved at Ueno Zoo, and a lot of the zoo was all about the pandas – I visited on two days, a Friday and a Saturday, and on my second morning I was able to get an earlier start. I arrived at the zoo maybe 20 minutes before opening and the line to enter was already huge. But luckily it moved quickly once the zoo opened. Then there was the queue for the pandas – I joined Xiao Xiao first as it was the first one I got to, and the sign said the wait would be 60 minutes already, however that was definitely a bit exaggerated first thing in the morning. Anyway, aside from that the zoo was full of panda signage, and even the Ueno area was full of panda details too – so many pandas in shops and even a very nice panda topiary too. The shops in the zoo were also full of panda merch, all of it completely specific and unique to Ueno Zoo which I really like to see and completely appreciated. Although this made it tricky because I wanted to buy everything! And in the cafes there were plenty of panda themed options too. Also, I thought everything (food and souvenirs) were all very well priced, I didn’t think anything was too expensive for what it was – which also made it tricky to not buy everything XD I especially liked that the merchandise was either specific to Ueno Zoo or the specific pandas, and most items were available in Xiao Xiao or Lei Lei options, and it was clearly indicated which panda was which – with the plushes, Lei Lei has an orange tail tag and Xiao Xiao has blue, and with the older sized cub plush, Xiao Xiao had a blue stripe across his back like they had on him in real life when he was that age. Just such nice touches to the offerings that I couldn’t resist. For me this has been one of the best places to buy merchandise of all of the places I’ve been to.
The education on pandas was also excellent around the panda yards – signage was all the way through the queueing systems for both pandas and was (mostly) in both Japanese and English with some very nice designs. I especially liked the family tree history of the pandas who have all lived at Ueno Zoo, all the way back to 1972! I’ve been lucky enough to see Xiang Xiang 香香 and Xian Nu 仙女(Shin Shin) in China since their return, and hopefully next time I’ll get to see dad Bi Li 比力 and then the twins again^
Xiao Xiao 晓晓
First up it’s Xiao Xiao 晓晓! Xiao Xiao is the male twin, born on the 23rd of June 2021, making him 4.5yrs old on my visit. He was the panda that I saw the most – so even though you had to wait in line to see him, once you were in the area of his yard and house, there was no time restriction, so you could stay as long as you wanted. Within the area was the indoor viewing, which was 2 or 3 windows long, split into 2 separate areas, and the one outdoor yard which was very large and was completely glass-free viewing. Now I realise in the picture below it looks very busy, but it really didn’t feel too busy at all, some parts of the path were banked, and as a tall person I was able to still get a decent view from the back of the path at the highest point. The yard also had some banking, so while it was lowest at the front, if Xiao Xiao was closer to the back then he was higher up and could be easier to see – he spent plenty of his outside time walking around and exploring, so there were plenty of opportunities to see him well.
I saw him use both indoor and outdoor spaces on both days of my visit, with him spending time awake, sleeping and eating in both spaces. When I first got there on the first morning he was having a good walk around outside before stopping for some bamboo near the front of the yard. He then kept moving between the inside and outside, I stayed at the outdoor viewing because a lot of people switched to the inside space, where it wasn’t huge, so then I got more space and a prime spot for seeing him when he came back out. He spent quite a bit of time over on the far side of his yard, which was where Lei Lei‘s inside space was, and he was sniffing all around the door and rubbing on it. I joined the line right before it was closing for the end of the day, which ended up being a great idea! At this time he was being kept in the indoor space so the line was going through the indoor house to see him there. Staff kept the line constantly moving so that everyone could see him, but once you had moved along the front, you could either leave or join the back viewing section, which is what I did. And I still got a good view, especially because he was climbing up one of his indoor trees, loved seeing that! On the second day of my visit, it was a Saturday so a bit busier with visitors, but I still found good spaces to see him. He was out again first thing and walking around, this time he was making some use of the far back area of his yard, which was a bit tricky to see him at some parts as there was a rocky cave in the middle and a lot of foliage, but I think this is very nice for him. He did eventually settle to eat and I went to see some other animals at this time. When I went back to him he climbed up onto the rocks and ate up there with this back to the crowd! And when I went back a third time shortly after lunchtime, he was deep in sleep in what looked to be an uncomfortable position on his back, but he seemed happy and settled there. Overall he looked happy and seemed very pleased to show off for his adoring crowds. I really loved seeing him so much =D
Lei Lei 蕾蕾
And then we have Lei Lei 蕾蕾, the female twin, also 4.5 years old on my visit. Viewing for Lei Lei was quite a bit different to her brother – here you had a time limit for viewing and this was done in small groups, and depended on where she was in her space. She had one large indoor house and then a large outdoor yard, and all viewing was through glass both inside and outside. If you were lucky and she was outside you would have technically had some extra time at the last sections of the queue, I got some good photos from back here so with a good lens on your camera, it was still possible to get photos. If she was inside you then had two viewing sections inside with 1min at each section, and staff were very strict on this, moving groups on when it was time for the next group. After viewing inside you then had an outdoor section to view at, but obviously would only see her if she went out. So we’re taking a maximum of 3 minutes viewing for around an hour of queueing – now for me this isn’t really a problem, I want to see the panda, so I will wait, and it’s very comparable to the system when viewing Hua Hua at Chengdu Base. I would say that I didn’t see many people with children waiting, it was all adults.
Over the 2 days of my visit I waited twice on the Friday, and once on the Saturday. On Friday, the first time she was resting/sleeping inside and really didn’t move for the 2 minutes that was my viewing slot. When I went back in the afternoon I couldn’t have been more lucky! She was outside walking around and having a very thorough explore for snacks and enrichment, there was a sack with carrots inside and she took her time getting them out to enjoy. I have to say, for only having 2 minutes to see her, I got plenty of good and different photos. On Saturday I just lined up once and had another great experience. When it was my turn the keeper had just let her inside for fresh bamboo and some treats, so I got to see her coming inside and exploring the space looking for the best food – she opted for the carrots which had been placed all over so she had to climb and look around the whole space. I loved that experience and it was just perfect timing! Even though overall I waited 3 hours for up to 9 minutes of viewing time, it was completely worth it getting to see her and I had such a great time and experience there.
