Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Part I The Wooing (1950-1958) 1950 1 Now You Love It… 2 Should We Trust Our First Impressions? 3 The Emperor and the General 4 The Old Tokaido Line to Osaka 5 Of Hot Baths and Fragrant Tea 6 The Halfway-up Bank 7 A Rhythmic Neighbourhood and the Broken White Soldiers 8 The Midnight Whistle 1951 9 Work, Leisure, Home Life 10 The Floating World 11 Through a Paper Screen Darkly 1952 12 Punishment for Going Missing 1953 13 A Well-oiled Little Cogwheel 14 Those Restless Bones 1954 15 Joining the Kantomo 16 Upstairs/Downstairs in the Japanese Economy 17 A Tale of Two Cultures 1955 18 How to Fish and How to Say Goodby 1956 19 Back in Holland… 20 A Fresh Start: Osaka 1957 21 The Teachings of IJsbrand 22 Kyoto and the Magatama Attitude 23 Another Way of Seeing 24 More Kyoto Adventures 1958 25 Osaka Realities 26 Escapes and Escapades 27 Casting the Die Part II The Winning (1959-1966) 1959 1 Dark Rumblings Beneath a Pristine New Year 2 An Orderly Wedding – and a Honeymoon of Sorts 3 A Witch in the House 4 Shifting Sands 1960 5 A Narrow Escape 6 Political Turmoil in Tokyo – and an ‘Economic’ Response 1961 7 ‘Getting to Know You…’ or What Went on in the Hot-springs 1962 8 Crisis Management (by the Seat of the Pants) 9 The Foul Smell of Success, and the Need for Faith 1 10 Capital Living 1963 11 The Looming Olympics … and the Overflowing Cup 12 The Seamy Side: Defeating the Yakuza 1964 13 Nothing Changes, Except Everything Else 14 ‘See No Evil…’ 1965 15 A Superior Society? 16 Chameleon Man 1966 17 A Thoroughly Ordinary Year Part III The Waning (1967-1974) 1967 1 Beyond the Social Whirl 2 Pornographic Chic 3 The Seven Generations Curse: A Case History 4 Falling Scales 1968 5 A Great and Alien Land 6 Kafka’s Ape and a Tower in the Air 1969 7 Amae or How to Have it Both Ways 1970 8 The Growing Conflict 9 Business as Usual 10 A Beautiful Death? 1971 11 ‘Go Placidly Among the Noise and Haste…’ 1972 12 Nixon in China and the Tanaka Phenomenon 1973 13 The Art of Evasion 14 Decision Time 15 The Good and the Bad: An Assessment (1973) 16 An Unlikely Story 1974 17 Creeping Doubts 18 Trailing Root Part IV The View From Abroad (1974-2002) 1 Preamble 1974 2 Ageing Albion 1975 3 Pessimistic Nippon 1976 4 Back to Banking - in Curaçao… 1977 5 A Business Trip to Japan - and T?fukuji Revisited 1978 6 Japan Again - and Remembering the Departed 1979 7 The Final Months in Curaçao - and the Move to Holland 1981 8 Japan’s Lengthening Reach - and a New Start for Me 1982 9 AMRO’s NewYork Branch Opened - but Japan Still a Factor 1983 10 Walking the Bride Down the Aisle… 1984 11 Pulled Between Two Cities… 1985 12 U.S. Banks Upset by Japan’s Market Aggression 13 Last Rites for a Lady 1986 14 An AMRO Tokyo Conference - and Special “Service” at a Restaurant 15 A Memorial Service in Nagoya 1988 16 Goodbye to Banking - and Japan’s Bubble Economy 1989 17 The End of the Showa Era - and the Fall of the Wall 1990-1998 18 The Restless Years 1999-2003 19 In London - but Focusing on Japan Part V Back on Familiar Soil (2003 to the Present) Preamble 1 The Difference 70 years make 2 Japan’s Fundamental Problems and Vulnerabilities (a) Lack of Natural Resources (b) Frequency of Earthquakes and other Calamities (c) Declining Population (d) Troubled Relations with its Neighbours (e) Lack of Decisiveness in Addressing Fundamental Problem 3 My late Wife’s Unique Personality 4