UPDATE1: Tokyo zoo celebrates Asian elephant Hanako's 65th birthday
Inokashira Park Zoo in western Tokyo held an event Sunday to mark the 65th birthday of Japan's oldest Asian elephant Hanako.
A Thai Embassy envoy and mayors of two local cities took part in a ceremony while around 350 visitors joined zoo staff in celebrating.
Hanako is now the fifth oldest elephant at zoos around the world, with the oldest aged 74 years, zoo director Etsuo Narushima said in a speech.
Morimasa Murakami and Keiko Kiyohara, the mayors of Musashino and Mitaka cities, respectively, in which the zoo is located, expressed their congratulations, with Kiyohara singing a song, ''Zosan'' (elephant), for Hanako with the participants.
The Thai Embassy in Tokyo presented homegrown bananas to Hanako and pieces of bread marked with the number 65 were presented to the pachyderm as a birthday treat.
Singtong Lapisatepun, minister and deputy chief of mission at the Thai Embassy, said Hanako is a ''symbol'' of the friendship between the countries, which mark the 125th anniversary of bilateral relations this year.
Events included a zookeeper's question-and-answer session, quizzes on Hanako's feed, and a speed race to strip bananas with zoo staff.
''(Hanako) is soothing,'' said Nobuko Iima from Kiyose, western Tokyo, who has visited the elephant for around 10 years and now sees her every month for about two and a half hours. ''She takes care of visitors, swinging a log or ringing a clasp on the ground.''
Riichi and Teruko Kato, a married couple from Nishitokyo, western Tokyo, wished for Hanako's longevity.
On New Year's Day, Hanako tied with Suwako, who died in 2008 at a Kobe zoo, as the oldest-ever elephant in Japan.
Hanako arrived in Japan in 1949 from Thailand when she was two years old and has been kept at Inokashira Park Zoo since 1954. Since her actual birthday is not known, the zoo regards her as older by a year on Jan. 1 every year.
==Kyodo
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