"I was the first person in Japan to embrace a panda. Before me, no one in Japan had embraced a panda. I was the first one." Okazaki recalled that year, still showing pride.
In September 1972, Tanaka Kakuei visited China. After the two sides signed the "Sino-Japanese Joint Statement" marking the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, Premier Zhou Enlai decided to donate two giant pandas to Japan. At the time, Okazaki was 43 years old and worked in ANA. He was called "the first person in the animal transportation industry." The delivery of the giant panda naturally fell on his head.
Although transported a lot of beasts, bears, lions, leopards or something, this mission still makes Okazaki excited.
"The giant panda is a precious gift and a symbol of Sino-Japanese friendship. There can be no mistakes."
At that time, there were very few people who saw pandas around the world, and Okazaki even didn't even know the size of the pandas.
The days of handover will come soon. In the early morning of October 28, the plane set off with a lot of bamboo and apples and arrived in Beijing at 12:30.
"At the time, Beijing Airport was still a quiet airport." Okazaki said. Two hours after the handover, Okazaki asked the subordinates to go to lunch first, and they stayed alone in the cabin, but did not expect that Panda Lan Lan and Kang Kang were sent at this time. What I didn’t expect was that a lady, probably the leader of the feeding group, asked him if he wanted to hug the panda. In this way, Okazaki had the experience that all Japanese people dreamed of: embracing the giant panda by hand.
"It lingers on my face, it's so cute, and excited flight attendants also want to touch it." Okazaki said. When other people came back, Kang Kang and Lan Lan had been put into the cage and sent to the plane. On the plane, Kang Kang and Lan Lan ate all the snacks and slept all the way. But Okazaki still can't let go, and from time to time through the cage to view. At 6:50 pm, under the escort of a fighter formation, the plane arrived at Haneda Airport, and more than 2,000 journalists had already swarmed.
At this time, the Okazaki special panda cage played an important role in protection (the blinds in front of the fence can isolate the outside world and prevent the panda from being shocked).
At about 8 pm, after the “shortest shortest pass” and quarantine, the giant panda changed to a truck and went to the zoo. There are police cars on the way to clear the road, in order to be cautious, the speed of the journey is only 30 kilometers. It was already 9 o'clock in the evening when I arrived in Ueno. There were hundreds of people gathered in the park.
The media army also chased the zoo all the way. After repeatedly promise not to open the flash, the blackout curtain opened for 10 minutes. Under the lens, the lively Kang Kang looked curiously out of the cage, and Lan Lan pointed his ass to the reporters.
