  We demonstrate the damping of quantum octupole vibrations near the touching
point when two colliding nuclei approach each other in the mass-asymmetric
$^{208}$Pb + $^{16}$O system, for which the strong fusion hindrance was clearly
observed. We, for the first time, apply the random-phase approximation method
to the heavy-mass asymmetric di-nuclear system to calculate the transition
strength $B$(E3) as a function of the center-of-mass distance. The obtained
$B$(E3) strengths are substantially damped near the touching point, because the
single-particle wave functions of the two nuclei strongly mix with each other
and a neck is formed. The energy-weighted sums of $B$(E3) are also strongly
correlated with the damping factor which is phenomenologically introduced in
the standard coupled-channel calculations to reproduce the fusion hindrance.
This strongly indicates that the damping of the quantum vibrations universally
occurs in the deep sub-barrier fusion reactions.
