The World's Most Cared-for Elephant

摘要

Many Japanese know of the Asian elephant Hanako. She arrived in Japan from Thailand in September 1949, the first elephant to be brought to Japan after World War II, when the country still bore the scars of the war. Huge numbers of people thronged Ueno Zoo every day to catch a glimpse of Hanako, who was then 2 years old. Four years after the end of the war, her arrival marked the return of people to the zoo in large numbers. Later, together with other smaller animals, Hanako toured Tokyo as part ofa traveling zoo. Not long after, citizens living near Tokyo Metropolitan Inokashira Shizen Bunka-en Gardens (straddling Musashino and Mitaka cities) asked that Hanako be given a home in their zoo in the park. Their request was granted.