If the United States had Ann Landers and Dear Abby, and Britain had Marje Proops, then Japan had Jean Pearce — someone who transcended the title of "columnist" and became a media icon for several generations of readers.
From 1964 to 2000, Pearce's columns, Readers' Exchange (1964-75) and Getting Things Done (1975-2000), were a staple of The Japan Times. For foreign nationals living in Japan in the pre-internet years, the columns were a must-read. In a warm and witty style, she served up information on myriad topics, from the mundane to the life-changing. You never knew quite what to expect when you turned to Pearce's page, but it was always guaranteed to be a good read.
If a column sparked interest or contained information that you thought might come in handy, you cut it out for future reference. Although it may seem hard to believe to those raised in the internet age, there were surely many foreign nationals out there with a notebook stuffed with clippings from Pearce's columns. The dearth of information in English back in those days can be seen from the fact that The Japan Times published two volumes of Pearce's columns in book form in the mid-1970s, under the title "Jean Pearce's How to Get Things Done in Japan."