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Tokyo: Panda pregnancy increases stock prices of nearby restaurants

Tokyo: Panda pregnancy increases stock prices of nearby restaurants

Giant pandas

What to do while waiting for a panda to give birth? Tokyo locals say ‘eat more food’.

Ueno Zoo in Tokyo reopened its doors after staying closed for five months due to the deadly coronavirus. Within a few days of its reopening, the zoo authorities announced that a female panda, Shin Shin, was showing signs of pregnancy.

"Signs usually seen during a pregnancy are being seen now," Koike said. "It is still difficult to say clearly whether in fact a baby will be born... I am truly looking forward to being able to deliver good news to all of you."

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This news, when announced to the country by Tokyo’s Governor Yuriko Koike, resulted in the increase of the stock prices of the restaurants near the zoo.

Prices of stocks of Chinese restaurant china Totenko increased by as much as 30 per cent on Thursday and then ended with nearly 1,109 yen (10 per cent). Similarly, the French restaurant chain Seiyoken, saw an increase of 7.8 per cent on Thursday afternoon.

However, Koike has also warned that these announcements can sometimes also prove out to be false alarms. The locals are still taking this as a ray of hope in the pandemic days, which has led to several setbacks in the economy and has also resulted in the delay of the Olympic Games.