Shin Shin

I learned today that a week-old giant panda cub died of pneumonia at the Ueno Park Zoo in Tokyo.

The male cub, the first offspring of 7-year old Shin Shin, was the first panda born at the zoo in 24 years. The cub had been conceived naturally, which is unusual for pandas in captivity. Given the low birth rate among giant pandas, it is more common to use artificial insemination with pandas in zoos.

Shin Shin, the mother, was brought to Tokyo from China just before the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami. The birth of the panda apparently resulted in “panda-mania” in Japan. Updates on his progress were broadcast daily on the nightly news shows and panda-themed products and tie-ins proliferated. The Wall Street Journal called the birth “…the most celebrated birth in Japan since the last prince was born in 2006”. Even Prime Minister Yoda commented saying, “It is very disappointing. We were all looking forward to seeing it grow up.” The zoo is setting up a space for a floral tribute where mourners can bring flowers and pray.

I’m sad for Shin Shin, for the cub and for Japan. I lived in Tokyo for over four years and visit often. So, the fact that the country went wild for the birth of this cub is not surprising. Japanese people go nuts for lots of things the rest of us take in stride. When I was in Tokyo in April for example, there was a queue that stretched for an hour at the newly opened Ben and Jerry’s store in Omotosando. How do I know it was an hour? Because Ben and Jerry workers were positioned along the queue with signs that said – one-hour; 45-minutes; 30-minutes; etc. Kind of like the queues at Disneyland. Except this was for an ice-cream store!

So while it doesn’t take a lot to excite this populace, the fact is the nation needed a break. And this little cub, for a week, provided it. While on the surface, life goes on (except unfortunately in the Fukushima region), scratch a little and you’ll see that all is not well. Some dairy items are still rationed (Fukushima is a major dairy producing region). At restaurants it’s not uncommon for customers to ask where the rice is sourced. Many establishments deliberately buy their rice from the Fukushima area in a show of support for the farmers there. They believe that if the government says the rice is OK, it’s OK. People I know, particularly those who have had more exposure to the U.S., refuse to eat Fukushima rice despite the government seal of approval. The disaster has finally convinced them that faith in government is not a given.

One of the vagaries of the Japanese language is that a word or name, written in “romanji” (English characters) shows the pronunciation, not the meaning. The meaning of the word is based on the Chinese characters - “kanji”. When I read the word “Shin” I think “new” (Shin Osaka Eki means “new" Osaka station). But “Shin”, depending on how it’s written, can have many meanings. I understand that there are literally dozens of different kanji that can be pronounced “Shin”. As I have no idea what the kanji is for little Shin Shin in Ueno Park, I’ll pick one I’ve read about because I like what it means: “gentleness through heart and soul”. Here’s hoping that Shin Shin, with her gentleness, her heart and her soul can help the Japanese people move past the recent tough times and into a better, brighter future.