Sitting on the swishest sofa ever -- an L-shaped signature design in scarlet leather -- in the lobby of Zurich Insurance, I picked up a book from the sea-green plate-glass coffee table and began reading up on "The Swiss." What should I expect of the president of such a company? Having met any number of CEOs, I was lured to make false judgment: He would be late middle-aged, graying or bald, and play golf -- but with a name like Herr Eichmann, might also click his heels and bow low to kiss my hand.

Wrong.

Manuel Eichmann may be growing a touch distinguished at the temples, but he remains youthful in every other respect. In black slacks and the company's in-house sport shirt in bright blue, logo placed strategically over the heart, he looked as calm and relaxed as Tiger Woods taking yet another divot out of the record book. Except there was not a golf club anywhere in sight. What a relief!

Manuel Eichmann, president of Zurich Insurance Japan, has developed creative insurance that is widely imitated -- but without, he says, the customer in charge.

Welcome, he said, negotiating an organic arrangement of desks and indicating that I perch on a high stool across the oceanic wave of glass that ran the length of the office. With his wife's equally contemporary artworks -- paintings, ceramics and drawings scattered around -- this was a far cry from the regular monastic presidential pad; more like a designer coffee shop. And indeed, here came the coffee!

Zurich Insurance is located just across the road from Shinanomachi Station in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward. Faced with brick and yet unapologetically 21st century in style, the address is a startling contrast to the run-down sprawl of Keio Hospital just behind. "When we decided to move here in 1995, the building was a shell. The frontage was designed as shop windows, there were no toilets on the first floor, and apparently there's the ongoing danger of toxicity, with local people seeking the hospital incinerator be closed down. Unbelievable!"

The company, which was formerly located in Tokyo's Tameike area, hired American interior designer Steve Louie to make the new premises a habitable vision for the future. "I liked him because apart from being a wonderful designer, he's a bit of a maverick, keeping on the move and unimpressed by big names and corporate spin. I'm a bit like that myself."

Eichmann's view of the world is certainly refreshing. Picking up the wrapped cube of sugar on my saucer, he pointed out the crest for Jura, the primarily French-speaking part of the canton of Bern, which in 1978 became part of Switzerland. "They made a bid for independence -- you know, throwing the odd bomb. . . ." He was born more safely in "the most beautiful part of Lucerne," near Richard Wagner's former summer residence, now a museum.

There was no planning to his career, other than to do his very best. "At 15, during school holidays, I went to work at a mountain resort hotel. This was when I noticed what a slob I was. I realized I could do so much better if I worked with a smile. It was this attitude that brought me to where I am today. We're what I'd call a 'care company,' and that care starts in-house. We can't treat employees as second-class when our business is about serving first-class customers."

His education was concerned with getting a grip on real life. "I'm a doer. For me, studying would've been a waste of time. If you're a doer, then you have to undo everything ever learned. It's the same with our employees: We choose people who look at the world in a slightly different way." A large percentage of the workforce, now numbering around 700, are Japanese. "We bring foreign innovation to the business, then give it a local touch. There are some things we do better, some things Japan can do better. Zurich tries to shape the game, rather than follow the game."

When he was at school, Eichmann remembers his language teacher saying he was so bad, he would never be able to speak any English. "I call that negative encouragement. Well, I'm not so good, but I'm not so bad, you agree?" Absolutely. His Japanese, however, he describes as "lamentable." And while understanding Japanese culture, he has reservations: "Of course there are good things, but the balance is weighted."

Always wanting to go abroad, and having worked for an American pharmaceutical company in logistics, he joined Zurich's International Division in Switzerland 21 years ago. "There was a chance to be relocated to Chicago, working for Zurich America. Both my Swiss-American wife and I thought that would be nice. But when we received our tickets, they read Stockholm. I'd been given the weekend to decide whether to accept the last-minute change or not. Well, if you aren't prepared to be flexible, stay put."

He spent three years in Stockholm, during which time he learned enough Swedish to read a local newspaper. Then just as he started to really like life there, Eichmann was asked to consider Tokyo. "We came on a look-see. It wasn't the paradise we'd grown used to -- living on an island 10 minutes from the office. Nor was it like Switzerland. But we recognized it was a challenge, and interesting." Their daughter was a baby when they arrived nine years ago. Since then they have also produced twins!

Although Zurich Insurance was given a license to operate in Japan in 1986, business remained limited until deregulation in 1995. "We were a direct marketer, restricted to work through Japanese credit companies. Now we have added 'direct-direct,' meaning no middleman. We reach customers through TV, radio and the media in general; they contact us direct. They can also use the Internet for getting quotations, a fast-growing business."

Zurich is strongest in direct-direct sales of auto insurance. "Business has really grown in the last two years. Last year we beat everyone in direct auto sales; we're the market leader in terms of innovation, products, services and prices." Although legally the company cannot refuse to cover any applicant, Zurich's pricing structure favors those with a good driving record. Its breakdown system is reputed to be first-class, checking that everyone in the car is safe, asking if there is a flight to catch or schedule to meet and then organizing pickup and delivery or hotel accommodation. "In this area things are going extremely well."

More recently Zurich Japan has moved into personal accident insurance also through the direct-direct channel, and one of the Zurich group companies in Japan is busy developing cancer care. "In the beginning all the Japanese companies complained about our way of doing business. Now they're not even embarrassed to be seen to be copying us. But they copy without the Zurich heart. Knowing how and why is quite another matter. "

Zurich is unconventional in offering "alternate risk transfer" mechanisms that protect the customer. Japanese companies don't do this, being concerned only with selling policies. "They say sell, sell, sell. We say care, care, care. Under the Japanese system, agents are driven by the need to produce commission. We are service-driven; the customer decides which way he or she wants to go. It's a completely different philosophy."

Eichmann says that if you want to play it straight here, you have to cut off everyone. "Japan's a dangerous place for any business that threatens Japanese protectionism."

Mostly, however, he and his family are pretty happy. His wife, Sylvia, keeps feeding new creative work to four permanent exhibitions back home. And their 10-year-old just took on responsibility for two birds. "For two months now, she's been early to bed and early to rise -- at 5 a.m.! I'm so proud of her. Also the certificate she won at school for being the most critical thinker. It's the critical thinkers who create new things."

While the usual term for a Zurich CE0 in a branch office is three years, there seems no end to Eichmann's time here. There is too much to do and he always is thinking to improve and expand operations: "I see gigantic things ahead!" And while Monday morning thoughts were still lingering on how hard his kids had tried to be as nice as possible all through Father's Day ("a gift in itself"), he was also checking that his level of betterment was not dropping, and wondering how best to inspire the people around him for the week ahead.)