LONDON -- In a Dickensian setting near the British Museum is a bookshop. Open the door, and the inviting musty smell of old books strikes you at once. On the ground floor, stacked shelves support books in English that "cover all aspects of the Far East and the Middle East." Rare books have their secure place in the basement. Nobuko Somers makes a claim for Fine Books Oriental. "We are the only bookshop in England specializing in the Far East and the Middle East," she said.

Nobuko, from Japan, speaks perfect English, her voice soft and gentle, her manner quietly confident. She was born in the countryside of Nagano Prefecture, where her father was a landowner and local mayor. At 15 Nobuko left the ski resort mountains to become a boarder in a city high school. She went on to graduate in economics from Meiji University in Tokyo.

Perhaps because her older sisters accepted arranged marriages, when her turn came Nobuko was allowed wider latitude. She stayed to work in Tokyo, becoming secretary to the director of the Central Procurement Office of the Self-Defense Forces. "I was interested in English," she said. "My colleagues advised me to see the world before I married. I received permission to be absent from my job for a year, and came to London in 1969."

Nobuko worked at her English, and took a diploma in an English school of flower arrangement. Since she already had a master's certificate from the Sogetsu school in Tokyo, she thought it would be advantageous to learn a Western floral style. "Then," she said,"I went to a Japan Society party at the Japanese Embassy in London, and met Jeffrey Somers. That was just before I was due to return to Japan. I had to go back because I had promised." Six months later, Jeffrey followed Nobuko to Japan. Their proposed marriage met strong opposition from both sets of parents. Nonetheless, they held a small engagement party in Tokyo's Chinzanso hotel, and in 1973 registered their marriage, in a similar low-key event, in England.

At that time, Jeffrey was running Words and Music, a bookshop that also sold records. Nobuko became a freelance translator, and began to work on a serious book,"Japanese Art Signatures." For it she researched signatures on every kind of Japanese art piece, from swords to netsuke and woodblock prints and paintings. This handbook and practical guide, sought after by libraries, is invaluable to art students and to collectors. It sells widely in repeated editions in English-speaking countries.

Nobuko compiled and translated "Immovable Wisdom: The Art of Zen Strategy, The Teaching of Takuan Soho." This volume was a successful English-language publication, appearing also in Spanish translation.

As time went by, Jeffrey changed his main business. "He had a staff of about 90 people, and had to give so much time to their problems that he couldn't attend to books," Nobuko said. Twenty-five years ago the couple made their big decision to specialize.

"Both of us are Orientalists," Nobuko said. "My husband researched and lectured. Gradually our business grew into this Fine Books Oriental of antiquarian, rare and secondhand books. We have regular clients, and collectors who buy rare books. They come from all over the world, and after the first visit come back as friends. Several people say ours is a dangerous bookshop, as they cannot leave it without buying something interesting. It's an original business that we built ourselves."

In saying that they cover all aspects of the Far East and the Middle East, Nobuko and Jeffrey divide their stock into about 30 sections. From the big auction houses of Sotheby's and Christie's, from book fairs and individual sellers they buy single volumes and collections. As well as selling in London, they regularly visit their established outlets in Japan.

As she produced her own books and worked in her bookshop, Nobuko realized she had further ambition. "My husband is an academic, and I met many academics," she said. "I strongly felt I wanted to study." She enrolled in London University's School of Oriental and African Studies. At age 60, when many women are proud of grandchildren pursuing higher education, Nobuko became a master of arts in Japanese art history. "This gave me the chance to lecture in the Asian Arts Diploma Education Department of the British Museum, which we both do now, separately, each year," she said.