By Poppy PhilbrookExpo Reporter OSAKA, Japan — At an event many regard as a sort of cultural Olympics, Inuit throat-singing sister duo Tiffay Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay had the added thrill of sharing their art with an audience that had never heard anything like it before. “It’s so cool to bring something as unique and specific as throat singing to...

By Sean CoombsExpo Reporter OSAKA, Japan — At an event as crowded as EXPO 2025 in Osaka, the music emanating from the many pavilions can be drowned out by the thousands of visitors and staff. But during the height of the week-long Canada Day festivities at the Canada pavilion, the iconic Canadiana music being belted out of the pavilion’s main...

By Poppy PhilbrookExpo Reporter OSAKA, Japan –  Plains Cree artist Joel Wood says he hopes audience members who heard him perform during a week-long gig here at Expo 2025 came away with the feeling of having experienced something powerful. “We want them to feel like they’ve experienced and were a part of something sacred and alive,” Wood said in an...

By Poppy Philbrook and Sean CoombsExpo Reporters OSAKA, Japan–There was maple syrup, Canadian flags, Mounties in full red serge greeting Expo visitors in the blazing sun and yes, even a gigantic beaver leading a traditional Japanese exercise class.  All in all, vintage Canadiana during Canada Day celebrations at Expo’s Canada Pavilion. Face paint and red maple leaves decorated the faces...

By Sean CoombsExpo Reporter OSAKA, Japan – It doesn’t get much more quintessentially Canadian than Mounties in trademark Red Serge. This week, two RCMP officers joined the ranks of Canadians from an array of professional and cultural backgrounds who have participated in events at the Canada pavilion to represent Canada at its best.  In cooperation with Global Affairs Canada, RCMP Constables...

By Poppy PhilbrookExpo Reporter OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Olympic-gold-winning B-boy Phil Wizard took to the Expo 2025 stage at the Canada Pavilion on June 22 with top-notch dance moves and gold medal hardware in tow.  Drawing hundreds of visitors to the pavilion’s cramped stage area to watch him perform, Wizard’s Expo visit came a year after securing the gold medal...

By Poppy PhilbrookExpo Reporter OSAKA, Japan– The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir Wilfrid Laurier made a historic first docking in the Port of Osaka as part of the four-country Operation North Pacific Guard. Operation North Pacific Guard is a Canadian-led collaboration involving Canada, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Launched in 2019, the initiative seeks to uphold international standards...

By Poppy PhilbrookExpo Reporter OSAKA, Japan – It was a night of legends honouring one of their own for Canada here at Expo 2025. The National Arts Centre Orchestra joined forces with the Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet (OPCQ), Canadian pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, OrKidstra, Sistema New Brunswick, and the Tokyo Children’s Ensemble from El Sistema Japan, in a tribute to Oscar Peterson...

By Poppy PhilbrookExpo Reporter OSAKA, Japan — Canadian and Japanese students were brought together at Expo 2025 to brainstorm as entrepreneurs and explore how one of Japan’s oldest traditions — making sake —could spawn new business lines using by-products of the sake brewing process.  But equally important, for the students from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and Chiba University, was a...