Those who watch the program "New Yorkers," broadcast weekly on NHK's satellite channel, will be familiar with the name Nancy Lee. But how many realize that this snappy, bright, Jewish-American from New Jersey is as much at home in Japanese as English?

As surprised as anyone, I caught up with her jogging last Sunday -- by portable phone, that is. "This is my only personal time. Most days I've meetings on the hour, every hour, except when traveling." And girl, does she mark up some mileage. She spends two weeks of every month here and two in the States, and while in any one country is moving between cities at the rate of knots. The energy level is frightening -- to everyone but Lee.

"I thrive on working like a maniac," she said between strides without catching breath. "I love it. You want to know about my women's cable TV network? Ring my secretary, let's meet."

We did, at Tokyo's Westin Hotel, which is where she bases executive luggage when in town. While absorbing details of her "meishi" -- she's the president of Global Japan, with offices in Manhattan and Shibuya -- a young employee nipped by with a press kit. "Two years ago I had a staff of 20. Now we're 50, five of whom are in Tokyo." With two cable networks finding their feet here -- SheTV is already reaching a million homes and SF (for science fiction) busy beaming up subscribers -- Lee senses rapid expansion in the air.

"Japan publishes over 300 women's magazines; there's an enormous appetite for information and entertainment," she observed. "What does Japanese TV offer? Wide shows full of scandal and gossip. Well, I'm out to change that."

At age 17, Nancy Lee told her parents she wanted to go to school in Japan. "Accepting me as an adventurous teenager -- you know, the kind of troublemaker at school who got straight A's -- they were more relieved than anything: I'd chosen a country with a reputation for being safe."

Hardly settled with her studies in Kansai, she was scouted as a "tarento." Then at 21, hired by a production company as a reporter on local late-night wide shows. "Have you seen 'Endless Nights'? . . . Huge!" Invited to bridge the gap between commercial and state broadcasting with NHK's "Studio L," she was able to build a broad network of relationships in the TV industry. "My most valuable asset!"

At 25, she became aware of comments about how surely it was time for settling down. "What was I to do? Where should I go? After working my ass off for years, I was burned out. Also the trend had moved from sharp professional reporting to using junior high school kids. It was Dave (Spectre) who suggested New York. 'Go try your luck,' he said. So that's what I did."

First, she refreshed -- traveling. Having studied Chinese in school, she picked it up fast in Taiwan; in Europe she perfected her French and polished up her English! Arriving back in the States, however, the timing was not good. "Cable TV was eating into the established networks. All the major companies were laying people off. Oh god, I thought, what have I done?"

It was Japan that came to her rescue. She met someone from NHK New York -- in the supermarket, actually. Had she heard of BS-TV, he asked. Which is how she came to be hired to work on "Weekend New York," and was able to make the transition from appearing on TV to creating TV. "Finding stories, writing scripts, producing and directing, the experience provided a defining moment; I knew what I wanted to do: make TV."

At 27, she left to form Hi-Lee Productions. "The name Lee Productions was taken by a Korean company. I opted for Hi-Lee, because I used to pick up the phone and say Hi, Lee!" It was the series "New Yorkers," created with the dedicated team of Japanese and American staffers whom she "loves to bits," that made her name. "Over eight years we produced 350 shows, milking every one for all it's worth. It's still going strong. We were also the first foreign company to create programs for NHK's high-definition channel."

After what she describes as a "fabulous six-year marriage," her husband suddenly died. To get through the months that followed, she obtained a law degree and sold the company. Two years later she earned a pilot's license, and launched a new production venture.

"I'd met a couple of young aggressive guys in cable TV," she said. "Keen to get into Japan, they had the knowhow but no contacts. I had the contacts and experience in making TV for Japan, but not the cable operating knowhow. It was perfect."

On March 25, 1998, Global Japan launched two 24-hour cable networks. It was a first: two wholly Japanese channels being beamed in from America, and only possible because of the most recent advances in technology. Opening the office here last year, the immediate future lies in sales and marketing.

The channel SF in a way looks after itself; there'll always be a cult market. It's SheTV that really excites, because it's breaking new ground, with endless possibilities. "I believe I can make SheTV a success. I believe it will make a difference in people's lives. I'm preaching the gospel here, the gospel of women's TV."

Traveling around Japan, persuading businesses to sponsor programs and cable companies to buy into SheTV, she knows the difficulties. It's not just about men not understanding the concept and its potential, but recognizing that in order to buy her product, an existing program must be booted, so breaking established bonds.

"Now I'm working to build understanding and trust," she said. "In explaining the mentality behind marketing to women, I can't take anything for granted. I'm told women don't want TV, they don't watch TV or they only want wide shows. If so, why have a million women signed up in their husband's name? They hold the purse strings, remember. This is the other side of my work: building a relationship with these women, our viewers."

The target is Japan's new generation of 18- to 34-year-olds. "It's true that programming is on the fluffy side, concerned with fashion, style, entertainment and travel, but we also look at more serious issues. We've learned that Japanese women can't yet face problems like domestic violence. But a program on personal finance, sponsored by Goldman Sachs, is being well received."

SheTV offers what Lee calls "infotainment," information wrapped up and presented in an entertaining way. "We want to create a bond with our viewers with consistent and watchable programs that reflect their concerns, attitudes and desires." To this end, Global Japan is advertising in women's magazines, subways and trains. "After 20 years, only 10 percent of households are cable-linked, so there's a way to go. But with convergence in the air, this has to change."

The biggest deal in the cable news is Oprah Winfrey's station "Oxygen," starting Feb. 2. Devised at an early stage in the convergence of Internet and cable, the hype is enormous. When "Lifetime" was launched, the network that has done so much to raise awareness in breast cancer, many thought it a joke; now it reaches 73 million households -- more than CNN.

Lee believes that by presenting programs that are easy to understand, upbeat and feminine without being condescending, SheTV can be a similar success story. Of course she sticks out like a sore thumb in the cable industry. At one recent shindig in Tokyo, she was one of two Westerners and 10 women among 800 guests; at another in Hiroshima, there were three women, with her the only Westerner. "But I can hold my own."

Committed to providing Japan with staple viewing opportunities is a full-time job, she admits. If there's any downside, it's in having no private life. But right now that's OK. She had a meeting in 10 minutes and was off to Kyushu the next morning. More often than not, the she behind SheTV is rarely in the same city two days in a row.

Whew!