TOKYO -- Demand for relocation services is growing in Japan, despite a declining trend in job transfers amid the prolonged impact of COVID-19 infections, as work-from-home practices are prompting people to move to more spacious residences.

One woman in her 30s, employed by a company in Tokyo, has moved from a studio to an apartment with a bedroom, living-dining room and separate kitchen. "I was distressed both physically and mentally" in the former apartment, which had floor space

TOKYO -- Japan's blue-chip Nikkei Stock Average surpassed the 30,000 mark for the first time in five months on Tuesday morning as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's resignation announcement continued to fuel investor optimism.

The benchmark index was up 1.3% at one point in morning trade and is on course to advance for a seventh consecutive trading session. The broader Topix index also continued to climb, hitting its highest intraday level since August 1990, when the asset bubble burst

SEOUL (Reuters) -- North Korea has elevated a general long seen as a rising star in the country's powerful military and a major player in its missile program to a position in the presidium of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) politburo, state media reported on Tuesday.

Pak Jong Chon will also serve as secretary of the WPK Central Committee, KCNA news agency said.

His election to the presidium, one of the most powerful decision-making bodies in North Korea, came after he appeared

TOKYO -- The spectatorless 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games leaves a financial loss for host nation Japan, setting up talks in the coming months on filling the hole left by hundreds of millions of dollars in unsold tickets.

Under the International Olympic Committee's contract with the host city, Tokyo bears primary responsibility for any funding shortfall. Whatever the host city cannot bear falls to the national government.

With the spectacle of competition over, the cost burden will hit home for a nation that questioned the decision to proceed

TOKYO -- Robert "Skipp" Orr, former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank and a key figure in the U.S-Japan relationship, died Aug. 12. He was 68.

Published obituaries duly noted his many considerable accomplishments. In addition to his work at the Asian Development Bank, Orr served as vice president of Motorola in Japan, and later as president of Boeing Japan, where the components for the Boeing Dreamliner were manufactured.

He also earned a doctorate from Tokyo University

TOKYO -- Honda Motor will start selling electric vehicles in the North American market made with over 50% of the same parts as General Motors cars, Nikkei has learned, the latest shift in an auto industry forced to realign by environmental and other pressures.

The Japanese automaker plans to provide GM with design information on its EV platform -- the base structure on which the body and key components are built.

Since a car's platform to a large extent determines its engineering, the automakers will be building very similar

MANILA -- The Philippines will pilot "localized lockdowns" in the capital starting Sept. 8, as the government eases COVID-19 restrictions amid clamor from businesses.

Metro Manila, home to 13 million people, has been under stricter community quarantine restrictions since Aug. 6 to fight the spread of the delta variant. The government has imposed stay-at-home orders, while businesses like salons and gyms have been forced to close and restaurants are limited to delivery service.

Those restrictions were previously lifted under "

TOKYO -- The Japan Business Federation on Monday put forward a set of proposals aimed at normalizing the nation's economic activity now that vaccinations have made steady progress.

One of the group's proposals is to exempt fully vaccinated travelers from Japan's mandatory 14-day quarantine upon entry. If the proposal is adopted, it could increase travel to Japan and help boost economic activity.

The move by Japan's leading business lobby comes as the use of vaccine passports gains currency overseas. In some countries,

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -- China will set price ranges for after-school tutoring classes and will probe institutions' costs like teacher salaries, the state planner said on Monday, after the country barred for-profit tutoring in any school subject earlier this year.

Local authorities will set benchmark fee standards and floating ranges that will take into account factors such as local economic conditions and family affordability, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement.

The new rules announced in July are aimed at easing pressure