Six Students Taken to Hospital After Eating Overly Salty Pizza

Feb 13, 2026 | News On Japan

Kitakyushu, Feb 13, 2026 (News On Japan) - Six junior high school students were taken to hospital after falling ill from eating pizza made during a home economics class in Kitakyushu last month, with officials suspecting the cause to be an excessive amount of salt added to the dough.

Students who ate the pizza complained of nausea and feeling unwell after the class, with eight third-year students reporting symptoms and six transported to hospital for treatment.

“The pizza was extremely salty,” one student said.

Because pizza dough requires time to ferment, one class prepared the dough in advance while another class later used it to cook. The city’s board of education said the incident was likely caused by adding too much salt, noting that the specified amount had been “three pinches,” but a student involved in preparing the dough said, “I thought it would be fine to add a little more.”

According to a doctor, the students may have entered a state of salt intoxication after consuming a large amount of sodium in a short period of time.

Tashiro Kazuma, director of Hinata Home Care Clinic Sanno, said that for a person weighing about 60 kilograms, ingesting roughly two to four tablespoons of salt in a short time can raise blood sodium levels and disrupt osmotic balance, causing cells to lose water. He warned that the brain, which can suffer serious damage, may effectively shrink as it dehydrates.

While mild cases may result only in abdominal pain, more severe symptoms can include impaired consciousness or even cerebral hemorrhage, potentially becoming life-threatening. Tashiro urged people to spit out food immediately if something tastes unusually salty or causes discomfort.

“People usually spit out food when it tastes too salty, but in this case the salt was kneaded into the pizza dough, making it easier to swallow,” Tashiro said. “Even if they felt something was off, they may have swallowed it anyway. Situations like this can lead to excessive intake before one realizes it, and it serves as a strong warning for all of us.”

Source: TBS

Toyota to Launch Self-Driving Taxis in 2027

Toyota Motor will begin operating fully autonomous taxis in 2027 through a partnership with U.S. self-driving technology company Waymo, marking a major step in the Japanese automaker's efforts to expand driverless transportation services.

Mount Fuji Puts on First Snowcap

Mount Fuji has received its first snowcap of the season, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced on October 30, after temperatures at the summit plunged to minus 9.4 degrees Celsius, marking the arrival of winter conditions on Japan's highest mountain.

Chinese Female Spy Suspected of Targeting Nvidia Chief

U.S. intelligence agencies suspect that a Chinese female intelligence operative developed a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in an attempt to obtain confidential corporate and U.S. government information, according to a report published by The New York Times on October 29th.

Japan Blocks Websites Leaking GMO Personal Data

The Japanese government has asked major telecommunications operators to forcibly block access to websites believed to contain personal information stolen in a cyberattack on GMO, it emerged on October 29th, as authorities moved to prevent further exposure of sensitive data online.

Typhoon No. 31 Heads Toward Japan's Remote Islands

Typhoon No. 31 was located near Minamitorishima Island in the Pacific Ocean, as of 3 a.m. on October 30, and was expected to approach the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo over the October 31-November 1 weekend while maintaining very strong intensity, bringing a growing risk of dangerously high waves, powerful swells and extremely rough seas.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Education NEWS

Japan's Sex Education Restrictions Leave Schools Struggling

A Japanese midwife is campaigning to reform sex education in schools, traveling across the country to teach children about their bodies, pregnancy, contraception, and sexual violence prevention, as longstanding restrictions in the national curriculum leave teachers uncertain about how much information they can provide.

One in Five Japanese Children Spend No Time Reading

Japan's children are increasingly turning away from books, with a nationwide survey finding that more than 70% spend less than an hour reading each week and nearly one in five do not read at all, raising concerns about literacy and learning as schools and families search for ways to rebuild reading habits.

France protests: Muslim Brotherhood linked groups accused of fuelling unrest

France has seen days of protests in Paris over the rising cost of living and declining access to public services, including state education. Some demonstrations have been marred by violence and looting.

How Families Are Turning Overwork Deaths Into Court Cases

In Japan, excessive overtime work could lead to a presumed cause of death. Lots of workers have logged very high overtime hours. Families no longer accept compensation as the end of the matter and have started taking employers to court instead. These cases have started to decide what a company must know about its staff hours, and what it must do once it knows.

Police Video Exposes Threats Behind Illegal Jobs

Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department has released a warning video highlighting the dangers of illegal part-time jobs advertised on social media, showing how young people can be drawn into organized crime through promises of easy money before being threatened with violence if they attempt to escape.

Japan Worker Shortage Puts Paper Teachers in Spotlight

Local governments across Japan are stepping up efforts to recruit people who hold teaching licenses but are not working in schools, known as "paper teachers," as a worsening teacher shortage has seen the national ratio of applicants to available elementary school teaching positions fall from 12.5 in fiscal 2000 to just 2 in 2025.

Chinese Parents Turn to Japan for a Better Education

A growing number of Chinese families are moving to Japan to escape their country's fiercely competitive education system, attracted by a more relaxed learning environment and better quality of life, as Japan's foreign resident population reaches a record 4.28 million and universities report a sharp increase in Chinese students seeking to build their futures in the country.

Record Low 28.2% of Japanese Parents Want a Second Child

The proportion of parents in Japan who want a second child has fallen to a record low of 28.2%, according to a survey by major life insurer Meiji Yasuda, highlighting growing financial pressures, demanding work schedules and concerns about the future that are making it increasingly difficult for families to consider having more children.

< 2 3 4 5 >