Latest news with #2025Osaka-KansaiExpo
Yomiuri Shimbun
5 days ago
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
2025 Osaka Expo: Daily Number of Visitors Exceeds 150,000 for 1st Time
The Yomiuri Shimbun The Expo venue in Konohana Ward, Osaka, is crowded with many visitors on Saturday. OSAKA — A record 162,000 people visited the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo on Saturday, the event organizer announced on Sunday. According to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, a total of 28.2 million visitors are sought during the exhibition period through October. However, to achieve this goal, an average of 150,000 visitors per day is needed. Saturday was the first time that the number of visitors exceeded that daily figure. Since May 13, one month after the Expo opened, the number of visitors to the Expo has exceeded 100,000 every day.
Yomiuri Shimbun
29-05-2025
- Yomiuri Shimbun
2025 Osaka Expo: Early Summer Flowers in Full Bloom at Grand Ring
The Yomiuri Shimbun Linaria flowers bloom in the garden on the Grand Ring at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo in Osaka on Wednesday. The seasonal flowers blooming on the Grand Ring have been one of the popular attractions at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo being held in Osaka. Currently, early summer flowers such as linaria are in full bloom along the Grand Ring's promenade, attracting large crowds of visitors taking photos. Part of the ring is a garden, with 800,000 plants growing on lightweight mats made from recycled materials. Spring flowers such as nemophila are being replaced with summer flowers through July, and in June, visitors will be able to enjoy 35 species of plants, including physostegia, which are native to North America.
Yomiuri Shimbun
25-05-2025
- Science
- Yomiuri Shimbun
2025 Osaka Expo: Expo Venue Hit by Swarms of Chironomids; Organizers Cooperating with Pest Control Companies, Others to Deal with Outbreak
The Yomiuri Shimbun Chironomids gather around the Grand Ring at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo in Konoha Ward, Osaka, on Friday. Swarms of mosquito-like insects are bugging visitors at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, prompting organizers to take countermeasures. The insects, called chironomids, do not bite people or suck their blood, but that has not made them any less unpopular with Expo visitors, who describe them as 'disgusting.' Organizers are working with insecticide makers to contain the outbreak. At around 7 p.m. on Friday, after the sun had set and the remaining light was fading, we were walking along the promenade of the Grand Ring on the south side of the venue when we felt something hit us in the face. The next moment, a swarm of bugs appeared. Many of the visitors who had climbed the ring to see a nighttime water show began brushing the bugs off themselves with their hands or putting on masks. 'It was not this bad when I came at the end of April,' said a 70-year-old woman from Osaka City who visited the event with four friends. 'I had heard about the bugs on the news. They almost got in my eyes, which was disgusting.' The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, the expo organizer, later identified the insects as chironomids. The bugs are believed to have spawned mainly in the Water Plaza, a wide seawater area on the south side of the venue. The chironomid belongs to the Diptera order. There are reportedly 1,000 to 2,000 species of chironomids in Japan. According to Toyo Sangyo Co., a pest control company in Okayama City, and others, adult chironomids measure about 0.5 millimeters to 1 centimeter. They lay their eggs in rivers, irrigation canals and puddles. The larvae feed on organic matter in the water, which helps improve the water quality — one positive aspect to them. The adults are active from dusk to night and often gather around lights. When mating, they fly in swarms to form what is called a mosquito column. They do not feed. After hatching, they mate, lay eggs and die. Their lifespan is only a few days. In extremely rare cases, they can cause an allergic reaction in humans if they enter the mouth. Nao Yamamoto of Mizuken, an environmental analysis company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, examined insects collected at the Expo site and found them to be a species known as Chironomus salinarius Kieffer. The species is salt-tolerant and lives in areas where fresh water and seawater mix, and outbreaks peak in May and June, he said. According to Yamamoto, the outbreak at the Expo venue is due mainly to the existence of the Water Plaza and the absence of competing salt-tolerant creatures and natural predators in the area. The Expo association has sprayed an insect growth inhibitor over puddles and planting zones on the Grand Ring. It has also consulted with experts and the Environment Ministry on how to deal with the problem. Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said at a news conference on Wednesday that he had asked Earth Corp., a major insecticide company in Tokyo, to help solve the problem.
SoraNews24
22-05-2025
- SoraNews24
Osaka governor calls president of Earth to deal with swarms of Expo bugs
Earth to Osaka… When we previously visited the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, we addressed a number of common complaints and criticisms that were floating around the Internet, but a new one emerged only recently: 'It's full of bugs!' ▼ A news report on the bugs. I had encountered the bugs when I went. They were tiny things that look a little like really small mosquitoes but never landed on people, let alone bit anyone. They just kind of hovered over everyone's heads in swarms like aphids. I only encountered them on the upper deck of the Grand Ring on the side that goes partly into the ocean, and only around sunset. They were kind of creepy and unpleasant, but fairly mild compared with what you'd run into in a field or along a river. At the time, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt as one of those seasonal things like mayflies that run their course in a week or so. ▼ At first glance, you might think those specks in this photo taken from the Grand Ring are birds flying in the distance, but they're really flies about a foot away from me. Turns out I was wrong, and the Expo venue is now increasingly flooded with these little insects that have been identified as chironomids, more casually known as 'non-biting midges' and even more casually known as 'blind mosquitoes', 'lake flies', 'muckleheads', 'muffleheads', 'chizzywinks', and other names, depending on the region. According to reports, they are now seen in large numbers in lower parts of the Grand Ring and even near pavilions on the water side. Complaints about them have been coming in fast and furiously on social media. ▼ Yeah… they definitely weren't this bad when I was there. 「閲覧注意」 大屋根リングの虫まみれも酷いけど、コンビニ？内にまで虫が入ってるのとか、ヤバ過ぎる、、、#万博#万博ヤバイ#万博虫まみれ — 市 (@0XXX0000) May 21, 2025 In response to this, Osaka Prefecture governor Hirofumi Yoshimura announced on 21 May that the prefecture has put in a request with Earth Chemical, Japan's leading producer of pesticides… excuse me, 'insect care products.' Yoshimura said he spoke directly with the president of Earth and that he is confident the knowledge they have gained in their vast experience would be put to good use here. Among the typical cynicism found in online comments about the Expo, some readers of news wondered why Tokyo-based Earth Chemical was called in instead of the hometown insecticide producers at Kincho. Others wondered if a mass extermination is really in the spirit of the Expo. 'There must be some reason behind them asking Earth instead of Kincho, which is headquartered in Osaka.' 'Well, Earth was founded in Osaka and moved to Tokyo during the bubble era.' 'Sounds like the Expo's theme has changed from 'making life shine' to 'harvesting life.'' 'Sounds like the Expo's going even deeper into the red paying for this.' 'I heard the chironomid season is until mid-July, so they better act fast or just wait it out.' 'The bugs were pretty bad near the water show.' 'Tropical fish or medaka would happily eat the larvae of those insects.' 'Poor flies… They're not hurting anyone and die in a few days anyway. Why kill them just because they multiply in large numbers and are unpleasant?' I tend to agree with that last comment in that, compared to most insects I've encountered throughout my life, those bugs are rather innocuous. And unless they've gotten bolder in recent days, they tend to just keep to themselves, albeit only a couple inches from people's heads. Also, I think if you're going to build an enormous wooden structure as a symbol of humanity's harmony with nature, you really should expect insects to be a part of that harmony too. Call me crazy, but launching a chemical attack on them feels a little out of step with that theme. At least using medaka to eat them has a certain circle-of-life quality to it. Source: YTV News NNN. Hachima Kiko Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Yomiuri Shimbun
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
2025 Expo Osaka: Yoshimura Asks Japan Expo Association to Consider Keeping Restaurants, Shops Open until Just before 10 P.M.
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo site in Konohana Ward, Osaka Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura has asked the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition to consider keeping restaurants and shops open until just before 10 p.m., the closing time of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, he said at a press conference Wednesday. Currently, most restaurants and stores at the expo close around 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. On Saturday, Yoshimura met with Dimitri Kerkentzes, secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions, who proposed extending the closing time of 10 p.m. by one hour so visitors could enjoy the expo at night. On the other hand, the Japan expo association pointed out it would be difficult to extend the closing time in terms of securing transportation for staff to go home. Yoshimura expressed understanding of the association's position, but noted, 'It is also true that many people want to enjoy the nightlife.'
