Statue of Tokyo zoo elephant Hanako built 1 yr after death

A statue of Japan's best-loved elephant which died at a zoo in May last year aged 69 was unveiled Friday in a ceremony at a square in front of Kichijoji station in the Tokyo suburban city of Musashino.Private donations funded the construction of the 1.5-meter-tall, 2.5-meter-long statue of the Asian elephant Hanako, which had been kept at Inokashira Park Zoo in Musashino since 1954."The statue is more lifelike than I expected and it is as if I am seeing her again," said Masaru Sugishita, a 44-year-old local resident who visited the zoo from time to time to see Hanako. "It is a good thing h…READ FULL ARTICLE