The Japanese electronics company Nintendo has reportedly fixed a glitch in one of its life simulation games that allowed one male character to marry another male character and raise children together.

The highly popular 3DS game, "Tomodachi Collection: New Life," has reportedly been at the top of Japan's software charts for the past several weeks, and involves players having control over their characters, including the ability to design a character, feed it, dress it, and make it perform tasks.

Although the game's apparent glitch allows male characters to date and marry other men, it does not allow the same for women. more >>

A day after North Korea announced it will launch another satellite this month, believed to be cover for a ballistic missile test and causing concerns in the United States, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda threatened to shoot down the rocket if it threatens Japanese territory.

"The defense minister has today issued orders to prepare for the interception and defense against ballistic missiles," ABC News quoted Noda as saying on Sunday. "If they do indeed go ahead with the launch, then it is indeed very regrettable. Not only our country, but the entire international community must take strong measures to deal with this."

Noda's statement comes the day after Korean Central News Agency quoted the Korean Committee for Space Technology as saying that the North "plans to launch another working satellite, which has been manufactured true to the behest of great leader comrade Kim Jong Il with our own efforts and our own technology." more >>

Several people trapped inside their burning vehicle are dead after one of Japan's longest tunnels on a busy highway near Tokyo collapsed and caught fire on Sunday morning. More motorists are feared trapped amid ongoing rescue efforts.

Charred bodies had been found and more cars remained strapped after a section of the ceiling of the nearly 3-mile Sasago tunnel on Chuo Expressway, about 50 miles west of Tokyo, caved in Sunday morning.

"A number of charred bodies were confirmed inside. The number of dead is not known," Agence France-Presse quoted a spokesman for Yamanashi Prefectural Police as saying. more >>

An earthquake hit Japan, and the 5.5-magnitude catastrophe has left the country's Honshu Island shaken Friday. Although it occurred just off the small island, no tsunami warning has been issued by authorities.

The earthquake that hit Japan was strong, and it's 5.5-mganitude fervor- later downgraded to 5.2 by the Japan Meteorological Agency- was felt far and wide. The quake stuck in Ibaraki Prefecture at 4.0 magnitude, Fukushima, Saitama, and Tochigi all at 3.0 magnitude.

The lack of large-scale damage reports by the U.S. Geological Survey and others could be due to the location of the quake: it occurred at about 21 miles beneath the ocean's surface, 118 miles northeast of Tokyo. more >>

A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan Monday, reportedly causing no major damage or injuries.

The earthquake struck at 5:32 a.m. around 72 miles southeast of Morioka on Japan's Pacific coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A tsunami warning was not issued and the quake was rated at a level 4 on the Japanese seismic scale, indicating that no major damage is expected.

Japan is still recovering from the devastating undersea earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami last March. The tsunami left over 19,000 people dead or missing and crippled Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, resulting in what was the worst nuclear disaster the world had seen since Chernobyl. more >>

Tokyo Skytree, the world's tallest tower, opened to visitors today and it was expected to draw tens of thousands of people the first day.

The building, which is owned by the Tobu Railway Company, cost $1.8 billion and will not only be a transmission tower, but it will also include over 300 shops as well as an aquarium and planetarium.

"There are so many stores in one place, and it's easy to shop," Miho Yabe, a 24-year-old fitness-club employee, told Bloomberg.com. "I'll come back again when it's not as crowded." more >>