Charles Pomeroy was born in Beloit Wisconsin on Nov.6, 1930, enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17, and became an aviation electronicsman. As an aircrewman with Patrol Squadron 6, he flew 79 missions out of Japan during the Korean War. A subsequent assignment in 1954 took him to Rome, Italy, where he served with the Naval Attaché and where acquaintance with Japanese diplomats led to his return to Japan as a student in 1957.
After graduating from Tokyo's Sophia University in 1962, he freelanced as a translator, then became a correspondent in 1966 covering Japan’s healthcare sector until more...