Thank You, Panda 👹🍣🎎 Wonderful Japan

In light of recent events, I am taking a look back at some older pictures that, until recently, were still very relevant. Unfortunately, the wheel of time does not stand still, and even here in Japan, change cannot always be stopped. But there are always some habits that one would like to hold on to a little longer.

However, at some point, the moment inevitably comes to say goodbye. And that is what I am doing here today with this post, in which I am trying to preserve a view that has become very dear to me forever.

It's about what we see in today's pictures. I don't know the background to this arrangement, but in my daily routine it was a very stimulating and uplifting place.

The first time I passed by here was several years ago. I was on my way home from work and had taken a slightly different route for a change. And there, in a small side street, they were suddenly all sitting and standing in front of me, in all their beauty.

At first, I only saw the one panda sitting on the TV box and then the mother dog nursing her babies. You really had to look closely to see all the details, all the animals surrounding the panda. Can you see the mouse, the hamster, and the canaries?

The atmosphere was somehow nostalgic, and I immediately felt transported back to a bygone world. Of course, I had to pull out my camera right away and take a few photos.

As I stood there observing everything closely, a mother walked by carrying her small child, who was perhaps a year old. As she passed, she waved to the pandas and repeatedly said, “Bye bye, panda.” For the two of them, the pandas were already a familiar sight, but still a small highlight in their every lifes. That moment with the mother and her child left a deep impression on me, and I can still remember it vividly today.

As I looked around a little, I discovered that there was more. Just around the corner sat a panda mother with her eight little cubs and two deer in front of them. How amazing was that?

The Japanese characters on the emblems say:

駅南天神尾みんななかよし

(EKI-NAN TENJINO MINNA NAKAJOSHI)

South of the train station in Tenjino, everyone is good friends.

This place had become a little anchor in my daily life. On my way home from work, I would deliberately take this little street so that I could see the pandas and their friends again. And every time I passed by, I immediately felt a little better. My bad mood vanished and I forgot my worries for a moment.

Well, unfortunately, the wheel of times has not stopped turning for our pandas and their friends. As I have just discovered, the old house there was demolished in no time and the pandas have disappeared as well. The melancholy in my heart has not yet gained the upper hand over the rationality and logic in my head, but perhaps that is only a matter of time. The next time I pass by, my heart will certainly feel a little heavier, and I will remember that I didn't only come here alone, but also with the rest of my little team. And that we were all delighted by what we saw here.

At least our pandas will not disappear completely; they will live on forever in our memories and also here in the photos in this blog post.

Therefore, I smile once more at the whole gang and quietly but firmly utter the words:

“Bye Bye Panda!”