This photo shows the elephant Hanako at the Inokashira Park Zoo.
She was given as a present to Japan by a Thai named Phra Sarasas, who was the director of Thailand’s Procurement Agency at that time.
He delivered the elephant all the way to Japan by ship, in order to provide the poor and starving children with a dream in Japan that was in ruins following WW2.
When Hanako came to Japan, several tens of thousands of people came to see her at the zoo as she was very popular among Japanese people, and it created a feeling of “elephant fever” in Japan.
However, in 1956 when a thoughtless drunk Japanese person trespassed into the elephant house at the zoo late at night, this surprised Hanako and led to an incident in which the drunk was stomped to death.
There was also another incident four years later that led to the death of a zoo caretaker.
For this reason, Hanako’s front legs were chained together and she was locked in the elephant house, which in turn caused her to experience high levels of stress and to lose weight.
However, two years after this incident her caretaker Mr. Yamakawa released her from the chains and gave her constant attention in the exercise area.
As a result of this contact, she gradually became healthy like she was before.
The way Mr. Yamakawa took close care of Hanako for approximately 30 years up until his retirement has been the subject of books and television programs in Japan.
Hanako is now 68 years old.
She has become quite an old lady.
While elephants only have four teeth to begin with, Hanako now only has one lower left tooth. For this reason, she is fed food such as bananas and apples that have been chopped into small pieces.
Hanako has many enthusiastic fans in Japan.
Even now, she is very popular with children that visit the zoo!
This big elephant friend that we have received from our dear friends in Thailand is still loved by many people in Japan even after 60 years have passed!!
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