Russia-bound Japan were condemned to a 1-0 defeat away to Saudi Arabia in their final World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night, a result that saw the Gulf state pip Australia for an automatic place at next year's finals. (Kyodo)

Stab wounds have been found on the burned bodies of an elderly Japanese couple found dead Monday at their rental house in southern Bali, an Indonesian doctor said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he plans one-on-one meetings with world leaders to seek cooperation in pressuring North Korea, which went ahead with its 6th nuclear test on Sunday. (NHK)

The world's fastest man Usain Bolt delighted local children and "maiko" in Kyoto on Tuesday, with his trademark "lightning bolt" pose as he attended a promotional event for Swiss watchmaker Hublot. (Kyodok)

A team of Kyoto University researchers announced Tuesday that they have discovered a chemical compound that may help nerve cells grow in the brains of people with Down syndrome and improve their learning ability. (Japan Times)

The education ministry will update its database of teacher’s licenses starting in the next fiscal year so that disciplinary records of those who have committed sex offenses and other obscene acts against children can be shared nationwide, it was learned Tuesday. (Japan Times)

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, a record 24.04 million foreign tourists visited the country in 2016. Of that figure, nearly 40 percent (or about 9.4 million) went to Osaka. (tokyoreporter.com)

An increasing number of local governments are planning to introduce a lodging tax to finance tourism promotion and ease the load on infrastructure amid record-breaking arrivals of travelers from abroad. (Japan Times)

A Japan Airlines plane bound for New York made an emergency landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport Tuesday due to engine trouble apparently stemming from a bird strike, the transport ministry and airline operator said. (Japan Times)

Five months after a potato shortages cause a halt in the sales of some potato chip products, competition is now intensifying between two major snack makers as they return to normal operations. (Japan Times)

A 32-year-old man fell to his death after proposing to his girlfriend on a bridge in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, early Monday morning. (Japan Today)

Nearly two in three 30-ish single men in Japan have never been in a relationship they thought might lead to getting hitched, a recent online poll showed. (Japan Times)

Police on Tuesday referred a 13-year-old boy in Osaka to a juvenile consultation center after he was suspected of providing instruction on how to obtain a basic smartphone virus through an online marketplace. (Japan Times)

A 15-year-old male high school boy who was arrested Monday for allegedly stabbing fellow student Kosuke Nishiyama, 16, to death in Saitama has admitted he committed the act because the victim was trying to steal his girlfriend, police said. (Japan Times)

This restaurant-machine fusion is one small step for vending, one giant leap for vending-machine-kind. (rocketnews24.com)

Japanese telecommunications equipment maker Yupiteru Corp. said Monday it will recall a total of 85,000 units of a dashboard camera model and replace its lithium battery free of charge due to fire risk. (Japan Times)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had telephone discussions about North Korea's latest nuclear test with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday. (NHK)

A test of self-driving bus services organized by the transport ministry kicked off at a michi no eki roadside rest area in Tochigi Prefecture on Saturday. (Japan Times)

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has issued a warning to all bus companies due to multiple incidents of expressway buses being parked for prolonged hours within the vicinity of the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal near Shinjuku train station. (Japan Today)

A 42-year-old man who was surfing off a beach in Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture, was bitten by a shark on Sunday. (Japan Today)

The government will ease regulations so that passenger cars can be filled with gasoline directly from tanker trucks during disasters. The move is to prevent severe fuel shortages like the one that occurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake. (the-japan-news.com)

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono says the government has confirmed that North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Sunday. (NHK)

North Korea has warned Japan over its plan to introduce a land-based version of the Aegis ballistic missile defense system to address Pyongyang's missile threats. (NHK)

The hunting season for dolphins using a controversial "drive-hunting" method began in the whaling town of Taiji in western Japan on Friday, but an approaching typhoon forced the hunt to be called off on the first day without a catch. (Japan Today)

As Japan's schools reopened Friday after summer holidays, a day when suicides among young people spike, celebrities reached out to at-risk children and one Tokyo zoo offered refuge to nervous pupils in a bid to tackle the mental health crisis. (Japan Today)