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Clouds Gather over Japan’s Ambitious Osaka World Expo

This photo taken on April 2, 2024 shows construction underway at the site of the 2025 Expo on Yumeshima island, an area of reclaimed land in Osaka. (AFP)
This photo taken on April 2, 2024 shows construction underway at the site of the 2025 Expo on Yumeshima island, an area of reclaimed land in Osaka. (AFP)
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Clouds Gather over Japan’s Ambitious Osaka World Expo

This photo taken on April 2, 2024 shows construction underway at the site of the 2025 Expo on Yumeshima island, an area of reclaimed land in Osaka. (AFP)
This photo taken on April 2, 2024 shows construction underway at the site of the 2025 Expo on Yumeshima island, an area of reclaimed land in Osaka. (AFP)

One of the largest wooden structures ever built is taking shape in Osaka, but hopes that Expo 2025 will unite the world are being dogged by cost blowouts and a lack of public enthusiasm.

The imposing circular centerpiece will be crowned by a 20-metre-high (65-foot) sloping canopy, designed by top architect Sou Fujimoto, known as the "Grand Roof".

It has a circumference of a staggering two kilometers and 161 countries and territories will show off their trade opportunities and cultural attractions at pavilions within the vast latticed ring.

A crane hoisted a block of beams into place this week as organizers said construction was largely on schedule, one year before visitors will be welcomed.

Expo 2025 global PR director Sachiko Yoshimura maintained that global participants would be "united" by the event even though there are conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere.

Russia will not be among the participants at Expo 2025, which will run from April 13 to October 13.

"Of course, there are so many crises around the world, but we want everybody to actually get together and think about the future and sustainability," Yoshimura said.

It has also met a lukewarm response in Japan, where promotion is ramping up and the red-and-blue Expo 2025 mascot "Myaku-Myaku" -- billed by the official website as "a mysterious creature born from the unification of cells and water" -- is ever-present.

A recent Kyodo News survey found that 82 percent of Japanese companies, sponsors and others involved said "fostering domestic momentum" would be a challenge.

Ballooning budget

The construction budget has ballooned 27 percent from 2020 estimates to 235 billion yen ($1.5 billion) due to inflation and Japan's chronic worker shortage.

Some say the costs are also hard to justify when 6,300 people are still in evacuation centers and hotels after an earthquake on New Year's Day devastated parts of central Japan.

Fujimoto's "Grand Roof" alone has a price tag of 35 billion yen and has been slammed by opposition leader Kenta Izumi as "the world's most expensive parasol".

The "Grand Roof" and other structures are temporary, with no clear plan for them other than organizers saying they will be reused or recycled.

The site on an artificial island in Osaka Bay will be cleared after the Expo, with plans to build a resort there containing Japan's first casino.

Jun Takashina, deputy secretary general of the Japan Association for Osaka 2025, acknowledged budget and regulatory "struggles" among foreign participants but said organizers would help make sure the displays are ready in time.

Among the most hotly anticipated attractions are flying electric cars, which take off vertically, showcasing the event's technological and environmental aspirations.

But the vehicles -- subject to reams of regulations -- will be a "kind of experiment", Yoshimura said.

More than 1.2 million tickets have already been sold and organizers hope to attract 28.2 million visitors, including 3.5 million from abroad.

That would be four million more than the last World Fair in Dubai but pales in comparison to the 64 million people who attended the 1970 Expo in Osaka, a record until it was overtaken by Shanghai in 2010.

'Future like science fiction'

The first world fair to celebrate culture and industrial progress was held in London in 1851, with the Eiffel Tower built for the 1889 Paris World Fair.

Osaka academic Shinya Hashizume, a specialist in architecture history and town planning, said he was amazed as a 10-year-old when he saw a "future that looked like science fiction" at the 1970 Expo.

The first film in IMAX format was shown at that event and visitors could admire rocks brought back from the Moon.

"Those six months were extraordinary for Osaka. Simply put, the whole town was having a party," he said.

The advent of mass tourism and hyper-connected societies may have since lessened the attraction but some Osaka residents still think it's a good idea.

Kosuke Ito, a 36-year-old doctor, said it would "strengthen the economy".

However, Yuka Nakamura, 26, said she might be put off by adult entry fees ranging from 4,000 to 7,500 yen ($25 to $50) a day.

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Varieties

Japan to Survey Animal Cafes for 1st Time over Welfare and Disease Concerns

Syaina Nozaki, manager of Owl Otter Cafe, holds food for Asian small-clawed otters at the cafe, which houses rescued animals, in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, September 24, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Syaina Nozaki, manager of Owl Otter Cafe, holds food for Asian small-clawed otters at the cafe, which houses rescued animals, in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, September 24, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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Japan to Survey Animal Cafes for 1st Time over Welfare and Disease Concerns

Syaina Nozaki, manager of Owl Otter Cafe, holds food for Asian small-clawed otters at the cafe, which houses rescued animals, in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, September 24, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Syaina Nozaki, manager of Owl Otter Cafe, holds food for Asian small-clawed otters at the cafe, which houses rescued animals, in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, September 24, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Japan has started its first nationwide survey of animal cafes amid concerns over animal welfare, hygiene and public health, a government official said, bringing greater scrutiny to the popular but lightly regulated sector.

The desktop survey, which began this month, will examine the number of facilities, the types of animals they house and the conditions they are held in, and how visitors interact with the animals.

Exotic animal cafes, where visitors can interact with species ranging from otters to owls and marmots, have become popular attractions ⁠for both Japanese ⁠and foreign tourists. But researchers say some facilities keep threatened species, raising concerns about animal welfare and the trade in wildlife.

Japan lacks specific standards governing such cafes and handling of many exotic species, said Takuya Ishikawa, an official at the Environment Ministry.

"There has been strong public interest, including from animal welfare groups, which have regularly shared findings from their own research with the ministry," Reuters quoted Ishikawa as saying. "Experts on a ⁠government advisory panel have also frequently raised concerns about potential problems at such cafes."

Cafes with domesticated animals including cats and dogs will also be included in the survey.

The government also plans a public awareness campaign, acknowledging that it had not done enough to inform public about the risks of interacting with exotic animals.

The prospect of tighter oversight has been welcomed by some in the industry.

Syaina Nozaki, manager of Owl Otter Cafe, which houses rescued animals, checks on owls at the cafe in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, September 24, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

"Japan is clearly lagging behind when it comes to (animal welfare) regulation," said Syaina Nozaki, manager of Owl Otter Cafe in Kamakura, near Tokyo, which houses rescued animals.

Nozaki said that she hoped that regulations will help distinguish facilities like hers from less ⁠responsible operators focused ⁠solely on profit.

Japan, which has a large domestic pet market, ranked as the world's second-biggest importer of both live reptiles and mammals by value in 2024, a report by the World Wildlife Fund this month said, highlighting risks including invasive species introduced through pet releases and the spread of zoonotic diseases.

Of about 80 registered wildlife animal cafes in Tokyo and Osaka, three-quarters were also registered to sell animals, according to a separate report by WWF and Hokkaido University.

Researchers visiting 25 cafes found more than 1,700 animals on display, 27% of them threatened species. More than 90% of the cafes displayed animals considered at high risk of causing injury through contact, while samples from four cafes tested positive for enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), which can cause bloody diarrhea.

Varieties

Fat Bear Week: Nepobaby Wins Alaska Contest

This handout photo from the National Park Service shows Chunk (Bear 32), the 2025 Fat Bear Week champion, a wild brown bear in Katmai National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska. (Photo by T. CARMACK / NATIONAL PARK SERVICE / AFP)
This handout photo from the National Park Service shows Chunk (Bear 32), the 2025 Fat Bear Week champion, a wild brown bear in Katmai National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska. (Photo by T. CARMACK / NATIONAL PARK SERVICE / AFP)
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Fat Bear Week: Nepobaby Wins Alaska Contest

This handout photo from the National Park Service shows Chunk (Bear 32), the 2025 Fat Bear Week champion, a wild brown bear in Katmai National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska. (Photo by T. CARMACK / NATIONAL PARK SERVICE / AFP)
This handout photo from the National Park Service shows Chunk (Bear 32), the 2025 Fat Bear Week champion, a wild brown bear in Katmai National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska. (Photo by T. CARMACK / NATIONAL PARK SERVICE / AFP)

The winner of this year's Fat Bear Week has been crowned after a nail-biting final -- and it's the son of a former champion.

Backpack, a 20-year-old male beloved by rangers in Alaska for his quiet determination, edged out female fellow finalist Dancing Queen in the annual ursine eating competition at Katmai National Park.

More than 2.3 million people voted in the week-long competition that sees bears unwittingly jostle in a series of head-to-head contests to decide which one of them has most impressively piled on the pounds ahead of hibernation.

Viewers watch a livestream of the enormous animals as they scoop salmon from the Brooks River, while visitors to a dedicated website can browse biographies of some of the top contenders, including before-and-after pictures showing how much weight the bears have gained over a summer of feasting.

Backpack's victory -- by a razor-thin margin of just 5,000 votes out of 200,000 cast for the final alone -- continues something of a family tradition: his mother Holly is a previous winner.

The animal, known officially by the more prosaic name Bear 89, was nicknamed Backpack by rangers who noted his habit of climbing on his mother's back when she swam across the river, AFP reported.

He previously suffered a leg injury that left him with a limp and has apparently adapted his lifestyle, preferring to spend his time lazing on a rock, rather than fighting with fellow bears.

"Unlike many large adult male bears, Backpack hasn't shown much aggression toward his competitors," his contestant profile says.

Sarah Bruce, a Katmai park ranger, told Alaska Public Media that Backpack now weighs around 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) and is a clear fan favorite.

"He's one of the bears that we've been able to watch on the live cams since the live cams were put in in 2012," she said.

The bears of Katmai spend summer and early autumn gorging themselves on salmon as they look to bulk up ahead of a long winter of hibernation.

For five months, the creatures will not eat or drink, slowing all bodily functions as they shelter away from the harsh Alaskan weather.

While the increasingly popular annual competition is largely for fun, organizers say it is helpful in raising awareness of brown bears and their Alaskan habitats, as well as the risks they face from human activity.

Varieties

Butterfly Wing Patterns May Trick Predators with Motion Illusions

A green-veined white butterfly perches on a cluster of purple lilac flowers, taken in Mareil-Marly, France, on April 22, 2019, in this photograph released on September 30, 2026. Helen Briolat/Handout via REUTERS
A green-veined white butterfly perches on a cluster of purple lilac flowers, taken in Mareil-Marly, France, on April 22, 2019, in this photograph released on September 30, 2026. Helen Briolat/Handout via REUTERS
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Butterfly Wing Patterns May Trick Predators with Motion Illusions

A green-veined white butterfly perches on a cluster of purple lilac flowers, taken in Mareil-Marly, France, on April 22, 2019, in this photograph released on September 30, 2026. Helen Briolat/Handout via REUTERS
A green-veined white butterfly perches on a cluster of purple lilac flowers, taken in Mareil-Marly, France, on April 22, 2019, in this photograph released on September 30, 2026. Helen Briolat/Handout via REUTERS

When a bird lunges at a butterfly in mid-flight, it may see something that is not there — the insect's wings flashing beneath may not be moving where they appear to be moving. By the time the predator realizes the illusion, the butterfly already may have escaped.

Researchers studying this natural defense have found that contrasting wing patterns can work together with wing movements to create misleading motion signals, making it harder for predators to judge a butterfly's speed and direction during flight.

"The patterns on butterfly wings combine with their wingbeats to create optical illusions, making it look like the butterfly is moving in a different direction to its actual course," said Jolyon Troscianko, a professor at the University of Exeter in England and a leader of the study published in the journal Nature. "This is likely enough to save a butterfly from the split-second moment when a bird would try to catch it."

The idea that stripes and other bold markings can create "motion dazzle" has long been ⁠proposed by scientists. ⁠But experiments involving animals including zebras, snakes and lizards have produced mixed evidence, and many studies did not account for the movements of wings or limbs.

A fritillary butterfly perches on red clover flowers, taken in Le Planay, Areches-Beaufort, France, on July 25, 2026, in this photograph released on September 30, 2026. Emmanuelle Briolat/Handout via REUTERS

"Butterfly wings are flexible surfaces that clap together and fling apart, and also pivot forwards and backwards in a figure-of-eight as they fly. This movement means that a stripe across the forewings can be visibly and slowly moving down on the down-stroke," Reuters quoted Troscianko as saying.

"But on the up-stroke, this stripe is rapidly folded away and twisted in line with upwards flight direction. Together these make the downwards motion of the butterfly much more visible than its upwards motion, even though it ⁠is flying up," Troscianko added.

To investigate the idea, the researchers combined high-speed filming of real butterflies, computer modelling, simulated evolution and touchscreen experiments.

"Stripes are particularly good at interfering with the circuits that detect motion," Troscianko said. "The barber pole illusion is a good example — stripes moving sideways can look like they're moving up or down instead."

The patterns also appear to increase uncertainty about a butterfly's position during an attack.

"This increased 'confusion' effect would be almost impossible to overcome without evolving a fundamentally different visual system," Troscianko said, suggesting it may have been pivotal to the success of the butterflies as a group.

Not all butterflies appear to use this strategy, however.

"The least motion-confusing butterflies are typically brown or red," Troscianko said, suggesting that some species may rely more on camouflage or on warning colors that may signal to predators that the insect is toxic, poisonous or has a bad taste.

To test whether the effects could influence attacks, the researchers recruited 100 human volunteers and ⁠carried out 3,000 virtual butterfly-catching ⁠experiments. Participants watched videos and attempted to catch butterflies by tapping a screen. Butterflies that were predicted to produce stronger visual confusion caused people to aim farther behind them.

"Predation experiments with live birds and butterflies would have been ideal in many ways, but likely impossible and unethical in practice," Troscianko said.

A European swallowtail butterfly rests on purple lilac in Mareil-Marly, France April 20, 2019, in this handout image released on September 30, 2026. Helen Briolat/Handout via REUTERS

Because the neural circuits involved in motion vision are quite fundamental in vertebrates, Troscianko said, the researchers hope the findings can translate between different species.

Butterflies face multiple predators, and motion confusion may not fool them all equally.

"For now, we've only looked at bird vision," Troscianko said. "In principle, similar effects could happen in predatory insects like dragonflies and robber flies. However, they have much faster vision than birds, so the illusions might not work for them. Indeed, dragonflies and robber flies do successfully hunt butterflies quite often."

Beyond biology, the team's motion-vision tools could have practical applications, from improving how movement is displayed in flight or combat simulators to developing patterning that protects personnel, vehicles, drones or robots in motion when being targeted visually.

"I'm most excited to explore how useful our models could be for improving road safety and reducing discomfort and stress in the built environment, where flashing, moving and striped objects can cause harm or danger," Troscianko said.