my account
tofu tomodachi
about tofu cute
shops
tofu cute blog
FAQs
contact us
FREE UK Delivery on orders over £25
FREE Worldwide delivery on orders over £40
FREE UK Delivery on orders over £25 / FREE Worldwide delivery on orders over £40
our shops FAQs blog tomodachi my account
"Not much going on here..."
Tofu Cute Blog
All About Pandas
All About Pandas
12th January 2022 • by Adam
12th January 2022 • The biggest bamboo fans • by Adam
The biggest bamboo fans
We’ve explained a lot of things for you here on the Tofu Cute Blog. Japanese Candy traditions, Shiba Inus, Tanuki, Kumamon, Yeastken and recently even Japan’s festive season. I write these educational articles to help inform, because I always think it's nice to have extra context for the things that we love here at Tofu Cute, especially for those of you who are new to it all! Today, we’re going to be looking at an often overlooked but important animal that has had a long association with Tofu Cute history: the Giant Panda!

Eagle-eyed watchers of our homepage will already know that we’ve got some pretty cool looking Panda plushies available at the moment, but if you search ‘panda’ on our site, it turns up quite a few fun results. Aside from that, you’ll no doubt recognise one of our very first mascot characters Panda-chan, who has appeared on many of our tote bags, badges, notebooks and other tofu cute original products since their creation, as well as appearing at many live events throughout Tofu Cute history.

Obviously, we love pandas, and the world might be a better place if more people loved pandas! So here’s some interesting lessons on the world’s most iconic monochrome creature.
There are only a few things we know for sure about the origin of Pandas. Firstly, the original Chinese name for Pandas more literally means ‘bear-cat’, which came into being after early observations about their temperament. The name ‘panda’; however, has a much less clear meaning: it seems to come from the French language, but most etymologists disagree on a clear understanding of its origin beyond that. Mysterious!

The Panda is native to China and specifically favours the Sichuan region. Although you might find pandas in captivity in a variety of places around the world, they’re pretty rare due to their preferences on habitat, and deforestation and urbanization reduced the Panda population significantly over the early 21st century. Thankfully, recent efforts have made it so that they’re no longer an endangered species, but they’re still considered vulnerable. The humble creature is now afforded greater protection as a result, but there’s still plenty of things you can do to help - being eco-friendly and supporting green initiatives is perhaps the most useful; the World Wildlife Federation has a long list of suggestions.

As a type of bear, Pandas are rather large in size, capable of reaching up to 6 and half feet tall as adults. Their large weight gives them an imposing stature if they were standing up straight. The more populous of the two subspecies has a distinctively iconic black and white pattern fur coat. There’s also another type that has lighter brown markings (see right image). In all of their styles, they have a very unique look that has given them many adoring fans all over the world.
Pandas have a widespread reputation for laziness, and there’s certainly some truth to this. Generally content to spend their days eating, sleeping and occasionally searching for more food, Pandas are definitely not known for their feats of athleticism and they nap pretty often. Relatable. Pandas are also rather solitary creatures, which these days is partially due to their rarity, but it’s also a behavioural quirk of the species: they don’t like to hang around with each-other much, so even when they’re grouped in captivity Pandas like to spend a lot of time alone.

Pandas are of course well known for their dietary habits as consumers of bamboo. As animals that adhere to a herbivore diet, they’re incredibly limited in what they have been observed to eat. In their natural habitat, they generally stick to just a few types of bamboo to survive. Because of their aforementioned laziness, they don’t need an awful lot of energy, so they’re observed to be ‘grazers’ rather than eating large meals at once. Bamboo isn’t very rich in nutrition, but the panda’s lack of exertion and low metabolic rate allows it to survive quite happily on it alone without needing to worry much!

Pandas aren’t inherently aggressive creatures, but if you happen to find one in the wild (unlikely), you should probably leave them alone. They’ll avoid confrontation with most things, but they can get annoyed with humans in particular. You probably want to avoid fighting a Panda, because the Panda will definitely win.
Most discussion of Pandas focuses on the Giant Panda that we all know and love, but there’s also another type of panda that you may be familiar with. The Red Panda - which is like a strange cross between a bear and a raccoon and is not even really related to the panda genetically - also often gets discussed alongside their larger, monochrome counterpart.

The red panda is an even rarer species than the actual panda, with an ‘endangered’ status due to its low population. Red Pandas are found in the eastern Himalayas of China, where they spend their days running around energetically (unlike pandas), eating a wide variety of plants and smaller creatures (unlike pandas) and generally being not like the other pandas. They’re pretty cute though!
Pandas have been represented in artwork and culture for a long time. Used as a symbol for a variety of things such as the nation of China and the concept of peace, Pandas have enjoyed many representations throughout all different kinds of media. From Andy Panda to Kung Fu Panda to Hello Panda (yes, the biscuit snack that we always have available).

One of my favourite representations of the panda in popular culture is in the Japanese anime Shirokuma Cafe, which is about a Polar Bear who runs a cafe and encounters a variety of animal friends. Panda-kun is a fantastic character in the show, with a huge amount of enthusiasm for snacks, sleeping and being a good friend.

Of course, one of the most notable panda characters is our very own Panda-chan.
As I mentioned a few paragraphs ago, Pandas have a long association with Tofu Cute. If you head to our about section, you can see all of Team Tofu, including Panda-chan. Panda-chan hasn’t made a public appearance in quite a while but rest assured - they’re doing important work for Tofu Cute in the background. You can see them make an appearance in this video. Who knows when they might pop-up next?

If you like Pandas like we do, our selection of Tofu Cute original items featuring Panda-chan might be to your tastes. And of course, we have a whole lot of other more generally panda themed items - panda stationery, panda snacks and panda plushies - you name it, we’ve got you covered.
That’s all for this week’s Tofu Cute Blog and the first article of 2022! We hope you’ve had a great start to your year. We’ve got plenty of really exciting things in the works for the blog this year, so we hope you’ll check back here regularly to join in on all of the fun!
We’ve explained a lot of things for you here on the Tofu Cute Blog. Japanese Candy traditions, Shiba Inus, Tanuki, Kumamon, Yeastken and recently even Japan’s festive season. I write these educational articles to help inform, because I always think it's nice to have extra context for the things that we love here at Tofu Cute, especially for those of you who are new to it all! Today, we’re going to be looking at an often overlooked but important animal that has had a long association with Tofu Cute history: the Giant Panda!

Eagle-eyed watchers of our homepage will already know that we’ve got some pretty cool looking Panda plushies available at the moment, but if you search ‘panda’ on our site, it turns up quite a few fun results. Aside from that, you’ll no doubt recognise one of our very first mascot characters Panda-chan, who has appeared on many of our tote bags, badges, notebooks and other tofu cute original products since their creation, as well as appearing at many live events throughout Tofu Cute history.

Obviously, we love pandas, and the world might be a better place if more people loved pandas! So here’s some interesting lessons on the world’s most iconic monochrome creature.
There are only a few things we know for sure about the origin of Pandas. Firstly, the original Chinese name for Pandas more literally means ‘bear-cat’, which came into being after early observations about their temperament. The name ‘panda’; however, has a much less clear meaning: it seems to come from the French language, but most etymologists disagree on a clear understanding of its origin beyond that. Mysterious!

The Panda is native to China and specifically favours the Sichuan region. Although you might find pandas in captivity in a variety of places around the world, they’re pretty rare due to their preferences on habitat, and deforestation and urbanization reduced the Panda population significantly over the early 21st century. Thankfully, recent efforts have made it so that they’re no longer an endangered species, but they’re still considered vulnerable. The humble creature is now afforded greater protection as a result, but there’s still plenty of things you can do to help - being eco-friendly and supporting green initiatives is perhaps the most useful; the World Wildlife Federation has a long list of suggestions.

As a type of bear, Pandas are rather large in size, capable of reaching up to 6 and half feet tall as adults. Their large weight gives them an imposing stature if they were standing up straight. The more populous of the two subspecies has a distinctively iconic black and white pattern fur coat. There’s also another type that has lighter brown markings (see right image). In all of their styles, they have a very unique look that has given them many adoring fans all over the world.
Pandas have a widespread reputation for laziness, and there’s certainly some truth to this. Generally content to spend their days eating, sleeping and occasionally searching for more food, Pandas are definitely not known for their feats of athleticism and they nap pretty often. Relatable. Pandas are also rather solitary creatures, which these days is partially due to their rarity, but it’s also a behavioural quirk of the species: they don’t like to hang around with each-other much, so even when they’re grouped in captivity Pandas like to spend a lot of time alone.

Pandas are of course well known for their dietary habits as consumers of bamboo. As animals that adhere to a herbivore diet, they’re incredibly limited in what they have been observed to eat. In their natural habitat, they generally stick to just a few types of bamboo to survive. Because of their aforementioned laziness, they don’t need an awful lot of energy, so they’re observed to be ‘grazers’ rather than eating large meals at once. Bamboo isn’t very rich in nutrition, but the panda’s lack of exertion and low metabolic rate allows it to survive quite happily on it alone without needing to worry much!

Pandas aren’t inherently aggressive creatures, but if you happen to find one in the wild (unlikely), you should probably leave them alone. They’ll avoid confrontation with most things, but they can get annoyed with humans in particular. You probably want to avoid fighting a Panda, because the Panda will definitely win.
Most discussion of Pandas focuses on the Giant Panda that we all know and love, but there’s also another type of panda that you may be familiar with. The Red Panda - which is like a strange cross between a bear and a raccoon and is not even really related to the panda genetically - also often gets discussed alongside their larger, monochrome counterpart.

The red panda is an even rarer species than the actual panda, with an ‘endangered’ status due to its low population. Red Pandas are found in the eastern Himalayas of China, where they spend their days running around energetically (unlike pandas), eating a wide variety of plants and smaller creatures (unlike pandas) and generally being not like the other pandas. They’re pretty cute though!
Pandas have been represented in artwork and culture for a long time. Used as a symbol for a variety of things such as the nation of China and the concept of peace, Pandas have enjoyed many representations throughout all different kinds of media. From Andy Panda to Kung Fu Panda to Hello Panda (yes, the biscuit snack that we always have available).

One of my favourite representations of the panda in popular culture is in the Japanese anime Shirokuma Cafe, which is about a Polar Bear who runs a cafe and encounters a variety of animal friends. Panda-kun is a fantastic character in the show, with a huge amount of enthusiasm for snacks, sleeping and being a good friend.

Of course, one of the most notable panda characters is our very own Panda-chan.
As I mentioned a few paragraphs ago, Pandas have a long association with Tofu Cute. If you head to our about section, you can see all of Team Tofu, including Panda-chan. Panda-chan hasn’t made a public appearance in quite a while but rest assured - they’re doing important work for Tofu Cute in the background. You can see them make an appearance in this video. Who knows when they might pop-up next?

If you like Pandas like we do, our selection of Tofu Cute original items featuring Panda-chan might be to your tastes. And of course, we have a whole lot of other more generally panda themed items - panda stationery, panda snacks and panda plushies - you name it, we’ve got you covered.
That’s all for this week’s Tofu Cute Blog and the first article of 2022! We hope you’ve had a great start to your year. We’ve got plenty of really exciting things in the works for the blog this year, so we hope you’ll check back here regularly to join in on all of the fun!
FEATURED PRODUCTS
Tofu Cute A5 Notebook - Panda Seedling Forest
£1.99
Meiji Hello Panda Biscuits - Coconut
£1.99
Mini Animals Flat Seal Stickers - Playful Pandas
£1.99
Saku Saku Panda Double Chocolate Biscuit Pack
£2.99
Nekoni Flat Seal Stickers - Big Panda
£1.99
AMUSE Baby Panda Waku Waku Keychain
£7.99
About the Author: Adam
Adam is the lead writer of the Tofu Cute Blog and Wordsmith person at Team Tofu. When he's not making fun content for Tofu Cute, he enjoys being a huge nerd. He spends his free time gaming, reading, cooking and figuring out ways to make Godzilla and other giant monsters real.
About the Author: Adam
Adam is the lead writer of the Tofu Cute Blog and Wordsmith person at Team Tofu. When he's not making fun content for Tofu Cute, he enjoys being a huge nerd. He spends his free time gaming, reading, cooking and figuring out ways to make Godzilla and other giant monsters real.
What did you think of this? Log in to react to this article!
What did you
think of this?
Log in to react to this article!
Cute
18
Super Cute
67
Cool
31
Wow!
10
Haha
6
You have not reacted yet!

You must be logged in and have a Tomodachi card linked to your account to receive points.
Next Article >>
Pets & Plushies Competition 2022
You have not reacted yet!
You must be logged in and have a Tomodachi card linked to your account to receive points.
Next Article >> Pets & Plushies Competition 2022