English news for Friday, October 9, 2026

Many more people in Japan are getting the flu^*1. On October 9, Japan's health ministry^*2 announced the newest flu numbers. The numbers are for the week from September 28 to October 4.

The ministry gets reports from a set group of clinics^*3 and hospitals all over Japan. In that week, these clinics and hospitals reported 42,320 flu patients^*4. That is 11.35 patients for each clinic on average^*5. One week earlier, the number was 7.17. In the same week last year, it was only 1.56.

The flu is spreading fastest in Okinawa, a group of islands in the south of Japan. There, each clinic reported 37.07 patients on average. The next highest numbers were in areas near Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Saitama had 19.66, Chiba had 18.72, and Kanagawa had 18.51. Tokyo itself had 15.87.

The ministry also published a report on schools that closed, or closed some of their classes, because of the flu.

The ministry will announce the numbers for the next week on October 16.

1. *1 flu: A sickness that gives you a fever, a cough, and body pain. It spreads easily from person to person.
2. *2 ministry: A part of a country's government that takes care of one big area, like health or schools.
3. *3 clinics: Small places where doctors see sick people.
4. *4 patients: Sick people who go to a doctor or hospital.
5. *5 average: The middle number for a group. You add all the numbers together and divide by how many there are.

A crested ibis^*1 has been seen in Shiga Prefecture^*2 in Japan. The bird probably flew there from Sado Island, an island where crested ibises live in the wild^*3. The Ministry^*4 of the Environment, the part of the Japanese government that looks after nature, announced the news on October 9. Its office on Sado Island made the announcement.

The bird was first seen in Tsuruga, a city in Fukui Prefecture, on May 5. Then it was seen in Takashima, a city in Shiga Prefecture, on June 18 and again on August 21, 23, 24 and 29. This is the first time a crested ibis has been seen in Shiga since 2008. In that year, people first released^*5 crested ibises into the wild on Sado Island. Shiga is more than 300 kilometers from Sado. No crested ibis has ever been found so far from the island before.

The bird has no band^*6 on its leg, so nobody knows exactly which bird it is. But because of where and when it was seen, the ministry thinks it was born in the wild on Sado Island.

News about the bird spread on social media^*7. Many people came to take photos of it. Their cars and camera tripods^*8 caused trouble for the people who live there. After that, the bird left the area.

The ministry is asking people to stay away from the bird and watch it quietly. It also asks people not to post information that shows where the bird is. The ministry has put the rules for watching the birds in a leaflet^*9 called "How to Watch Crested Ibises" and a short video called "When You Watch Crested Ibises." Since 2008, people have reported about 6,500 sightings^*10 of crested ibises on Honshu, the main island of Japan.

1. *1 crested ibis: a large white and pink bird with a long, thin beak; it is very rare in Japan
2. *2 Prefecture: a large area of Japan with its own local government, like a state
3. *3 in the wild: living free in nature, not in a zoo or a cage
4. *4 ministry: a part of a country's government that looks after one thing, such as nature or health
5. *5 released: let go free
6. *6 band: a small ring put on a bird's leg so people can tell which bird it is
7. *7 social media: websites and apps where people share photos and news with each other
8. *8 tripods: stands with three legs that hold a camera still
9. *9 leaflet: a small paper with information on it
10. *10 sightings: times when someone sees something, such as a rare bird

A new high school in Japan will open in April 2027. Its name is Dalton X Gakuen High School. On June 11, 2026, Kawaijuku, the education group that is building the school, announced the school's first in-person^*1 information sessions^*2. Families can come to the school's Tokyo campus^*3 and see the buildings.

The school will be a new kind of school. Students will study by distance learning^*4, but they will also live at the school. They will do inquiry learning^*5 in many places in Japan and in other countries. The main school is in Ichinoseki, a city in Iwate Prefecture^*6 in the north of Japan. Kawaijuku is getting ready to ask Iwate Prefecture for permission to open the school.

Students will move during their three years. In the first year and the third year, they will spend half a year at the main school in Ichinoseki and half a year at the Tokyo campus. In the second year, they will stay at the school's local bases^*7 in Japan and in other countries and do inquiry learning there.

The Tokyo campus is in Chofu, a city in the Tokyo area. It is inside a training center^*8 that belongs to NTT East, a large Japanese telephone company. Workers are still fixing up the buildings, so visitors will mainly see the student dormitory^*9.

The in-person sessions will be on June 20, July 11 and August 5. Each one runs from 10:00 to 12:30. After that, families who want to can have a private talk with the school staff until 13:00. The sessions are for junior high school students and their parents. Up to 40 families can come to each session.

Kawaijuku will also hold online information sessions and online private talks, for example on July 18 and August 23. Sessions at the Ichinoseki campus will come later.

1. *1 in-person: in the same room, not online
2. *2 information sessions: meetings where a school tells people about itself and answers questions
3. *3 campus: the land and buildings of a school
4. *4 distance learning: studying from far away, often with a computer, instead of sitting in a classroom every day
5. *5 inquiry learning: learning by asking your own questions and finding the answers yourself
6. *6 Prefecture: a large area of Japan with its own local government, like a state
7. *7 bases: places that a group uses as its home in an area
8. *8 training center: a building where a company teaches its workers
9. *9 dormitory: a building where students live and sleep