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Your Guide to Cup Noodles Museum

Instant cup noodles are on display at the Instant Ramen Museum on April 8, 2008 in Osaka, Japan for the 6th World Instant Noodle Summit. (Junko Kimura/Getty Images)
Instant cup noodles are on display at the Instant Ramen Museum on April 8, 2008 in Osaka, Japan for the 6th World Instant Noodle Summit. (Junko Kimura/Getty Images)
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Your Guide to Cup Noodles Museum

Instant cup noodles are on display at the Instant Ramen Museum on April 8, 2008 in Osaka, Japan for the 6th World Instant Noodle Summit. (Junko Kimura/Getty Images)
Instant cup noodles are on display at the Instant Ramen Museum on April 8, 2008 in Osaka, Japan for the 6th World Instant Noodle Summit. (Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

Get ready to learn everything you've ever wanted to know about instant ramen at Osaka's Cup Noodles Museum.

The museum, just north of Osaka city in Ikeda, celebrates the beloved instant food with quirky displays, interactive exhibits, and live factory demonstrations. Here's what you need to know to experience this wacky niche museum, according to the Japan Today website.

Interactive noodle exhibits: An archway of Nissin Cup Noodle packaging and a larger than life cross-section of one of the infamous cups await visitors inside. Learn the history of this convenient food through the interactive timeline of instant noodles from their inception to the modern-day.

The displays and activities are so visually appealing that you don't even need to understand Japanese to enjoy them!

The real reason most people visit here though is the My CUPNOODLES Factory, which allows visitors to create their own cup with flavors and ingredients of their choice. Select your ramen preferences then watch an assembly line team package it for you.

Before you leave, pop by the Tasting Hall sample limited edition and regional flavors all in one place. Choose what you want directly from the nifty ramen vending machines.

Instant ramen was actually created in Ikeda back in the 1950s, even though the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama is more popular.

In 1958, the world's first instant noodle product, Chicken Ramen, was made in a "research shed" in Ikeda. The tiny shack belonged to Taiwanese-Japanese inventor Momofuku Ando, the founder of Nissin. At the time, Nissin was a small and unknown local company.

The invention of Cup Noodles helped families recovering from the aftermath of WWII, afford hot food in addition to just being a breakthrough in modern convenience.

It also helped Japan catch up to the instant food craze that swept the U.S. and other nations in the 1950s.

Now it's a global phenomenon, consumed worldwide by billions every year.

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Sweet Dreams: Seoul Holds ‘Power Nap Contest’ in Sleep-Deprived South Korea

Participants take a nap during the 2026 Hangang Nap Competition at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP)
Participants take a nap during the 2026 Hangang Nap Competition at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP)
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Sweet Dreams: Seoul Holds ‘Power Nap Contest’ in Sleep-Deprived South Korea

Participants take a nap during the 2026 Hangang Nap Competition at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP)
Participants take a nap during the 2026 Hangang Nap Competition at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP)

Under hazy spring ‌sunshine on Saturday, hundreds of young Seoulites turned up at a park by the Han River at the invitation of the city government to try to do something many overworked South Koreans never get enough of - sleep.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government staged its third annual spring event, dubbed a power nap contest, from 3 p.m. (0600 GMT), under a refreshed set of admission requirements for would-be participants: wear outfits befitting either a sleeping beauty or prince, come tired, with a full belly.

For a metropolis that famously runs on 24-hour shopping malls, competitive hustle ‌and iced Americanos, ‌the underlying exhaustion on the lawn was palpable.

"Between ‌exam ⁠prep and part-time ⁠jobs, I survive on three or four hours of sleep a night, patching it up with desk naps during the day," said Park Jun-seok, who showed up draped in the silken, crimson robes of a Joseon Dynasty monarch.

"I'm here to show off my napping skills, and to demonstrate exactly how a king sleeps," said Park, a ⁠20-year-old university student.

Nearby, Yoo Mi-yeon, 24, an English ‌teacher from Ilsan north of Seoul, stood ‌out in a plush, oversized koala-themed onesie.

"I've always suffered from insomnia, ‌I struggle to fall asleep, and wake up easily," she said. "Koalas ‌are famous for their deep slumber. I came dressed as one hoping to borrow a little of their magic."

Now in its third consecutive year, the sleep competition underscores a chronic issue for South Koreans. Data show South Korea ‌is one of the most overworked and sleep-deprived nations among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members, ⁠and, as ⁠a consequence, people have some of the fewest sleep hours.

As the clock struck three and eye masks descended across the park, officials went around to measure participants' heart rate to make sure they had a stable reading - an indicator of deep, peaceful sleep.

The winner of the contest was a man in his 80s.

Hwang Du-seong, a 37-year-old office worker, was a runner-up.

"I was completely drained, having done night shifts often on top of going to work everyday plus I also drive a lot for work. So when I saw the contest I was determined to sleep to fully recharge amid river breeze, and I'm very happy to be placed second place, luckily."

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Humpback Whale Stranded in Germany Released into North Sea

01 May 2026, Denmark, Skagen: An aerial view of the the humpback whale towed in its barge by the tugboat Fortuna B along the Danish coast, just south of Skagen in the Skagerrak, through the Baltic Sea. (dpa)
01 May 2026, Denmark, Skagen: An aerial view of the the humpback whale towed in its barge by the tugboat Fortuna B along the Danish coast, just south of Skagen in the Skagerrak, through the Baltic Sea. (dpa)
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Humpback Whale Stranded in Germany Released into North Sea

01 May 2026, Denmark, Skagen: An aerial view of the the humpback whale towed in its barge by the tugboat Fortuna B along the Danish coast, just south of Skagen in the Skagerrak, through the Baltic Sea. (dpa)
01 May 2026, Denmark, Skagen: An aerial view of the the humpback whale towed in its barge by the tugboat Fortuna B along the Danish coast, just south of Skagen in the Skagerrak, through the Baltic Sea. (dpa)

A humpback whale that had been struggling to survive after beaching near the German coast was Saturday released into the North Sea off Denmark after being transported in a barge, a member of a rescue mission said.

Dubbed "Timmy" by the German media, the whale was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on March 23 near the city of Luebeck before freeing itself and then becoming stuck again several times.

The whale left the barge it had been towed on from Wismar Bay on the Baltic coast at around 8:45 am (0645 GMT), said Karin Walter-Mommert from the rescue initiative.

It is now swimming on its own and freely, and at least for the time being, in the right direction, she said.

At the start of April, German officials gave up on trying to rescue the animal, saying they believed it could not be saved.

But this triggered an outcry and authorities were persuaded to approve a privately financed rescue plan proposed by two wealthy entrepreneurs.

The barge idea was hatched after their initial attempt to save the whale with inflatable cushions and pontoons was unsuccessful.

The rescue effort was seen as a long shot and criticized by experts who said it would only cause the animal more distress.

The whale's ordeal has sparked a media frenzy -- with non-stop coverage from TV channels, online outlets and social media influencers -- but has also led to angry spats and conspiracy theories.

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US Border Wall Construction Threatens Endangered Wolves, Conservationists Say

Mexican gray wolf cubs, an endangered native species, are seen in their enclosure at the Museo del Desierto in Saltillo, Mexico July 2, 2020. (Reuters)
Mexican gray wolf cubs, an endangered native species, are seen in their enclosure at the Museo del Desierto in Saltillo, Mexico July 2, 2020. (Reuters)
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US Border Wall Construction Threatens Endangered Wolves, Conservationists Say

Mexican gray wolf cubs, an endangered native species, are seen in their enclosure at the Museo del Desierto in Saltillo, Mexico July 2, 2020. (Reuters)
Mexican gray wolf cubs, an endangered native species, are seen in their enclosure at the Museo del Desierto in Saltillo, Mexico July 2, 2020. (Reuters)

For the first time in decades, a radio-collared endangered Mexican wolf crossed from the US into Mexico last week in New Mexico, a federal official said on Friday, but environmental groups warn the animal may never return due to US border wall construction.

The male wolf crossed into Chihuahua, Mexico, from a remote area of the New Mexico Bootheel, according to Aislinn Maestas, a spokesperson for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which tracks members of the smallest and rarest subspecies of North American gray wolf, also known by its Spanish name "lobo."

Once common in the Southwestern US and Mexico, the wolf came ‌close to extinction ‌in the 1970s, exterminated by government agencies and ranchers who claimed ‌targeting ⁠the species would protect ⁠livestock.

The wolves have for millennia roamed the Bootheel's grasslands, desert and wooded mountains, traversing the migration corridor in search of prey and mates in what is now Mexico and the US

The administrations of President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden have built a steel border wall westward across New Mexico to stem the trafficking of migrants and drugs.

Current construction of the 18- to 30-foot-high barrier in the area means last week's wolf border-crossing may be the last ever by ⁠the species, conservationist Michael Robinson said on Friday.

That would exacerbate the ‌wolf's chronic inbreeding, which has led to lower survival ‌rates for pups, as well as cancers and birth defects.

“Sealing off the Bootheel would isolate wolves and ‌other rare mammals like jaguars and ultimately make them all less likely to survive,” Robinson, ‌a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in an interview.

The Department of Homeland Security and its US Customs and Border Protection agency, which are responsible for border wall construction, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DIVERSITY PROBLEM

Conservation groups and some US wildlife officials have said expansion ‌of the border wall will fragment habitats and disrupt migration routes in regions such as the Big Bend area of Texas, the ⁠San Rafael Valley ⁠of Arizona and the Otay Wilderness in California.

The Department of Homeland Security has used legal authority to override environmental laws, leading to lawsuits against barriers.

US administrations from both parties have acknowledged environmental risks but argue the barrier is necessary for national security. Officials have incorporated mitigation features like ground-level wildlife openings for small animals such as reptiles and rodents.

In the case of the Mexican wolf, mating between animals from the US and Mexico could increase critically low genetic diversity, said Cyndi Tuell, Arizona and New Mexico director at Western Watersheds Project, a conservation group.

All modern Mexican wolves are descended from just seven wolves that were successfully bred after being captured as part of a binational breeding program started in the late 1970s.

As of this year there are at least 319 wild Mexican wolves in the US, around 36 in Mexico and about 380 in captive breeding programs, according to USFWS and conservation groups.