Before becoming a government servant, Kazumi Okamura worked for 17 years as a corporate lawyer. She believes she did her work well. "And I think I developed the reverse side, my inner world," she said. Now with a unit of the Ministry of Justice, and bearing the awesome title of attorney in the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office, she tries to keep her responsibilities in perspective. "I always think about the beauty of nature," she said. "To stay close to a natural way of life is the best way."

At 47 a thorough professional, Okamura keeps balance, thoughtfulness, and a yogic philosophy. When she was a small child growing up in the center of Tokyo, she longed for a setting of grass and trees and small rivers. Her parents, anxious to guide her, kept her well supplied with books. By the time she graduated from high school, she knew she wanted to be a lawyer. She entered Waseda University, where she took her degree in law.

"Then I decided I wanted to be an international lawyer," she said. "I began English lessons, and for more than four years while I was working, I saved money for my study-abroad program. I went to Harvard."

She made friends, many of them from Asia, all needing to get along in English at Harvard. "Many of my friends there were Indians. Many of them practiced yoga," she said. At that period of her life she did not join in with their exercises, but concentrated on her studies. Okamura took her master's degree in international and business law from Harvard Law School.

On her return to Tokyo, she became a corporate lawyer in an American firm working on mergers and acquisition deals, and financial transactions with investment bankers. She married. She said: "With the American firm I worked very hard, almost day and night and at weekends, Wall Street style. After such a long market orientation and experience of Western-style working, I developed a keen interest in public service."

She made a career switch and joined the Japanese government five years ago.

She said: "I had learned how to behave in a large firm with other people. In a big entity like the Ministry of Justice, it was just as important to behave well and be a good team player." When she coordinated general affairs she said, "Mine was a small piece of work, but somebody had to do it." When she worked on high-level treaty negotiations, she said, "I was just lucky to have such a window on global affairs."

Formerly Okamura was director of the International Affairs Division of the Criminal Affairs Bureau, the first woman of several talented women to be named to the position.

Crime gave her a lot to think about. She said, "When I was negotiating on behalf of the Japanese government, I wondered why difficulties arose between nations. Governments need to cooperate. With people, I wondered about the causes of crime, and felt that if people thought clearly before acting there would be much less lawbreaking. I thought I had many things to do to achieve justice for a better world, for a more peaceful world. I thought of nature, and the benefits of staying calm and avoiding stress, and realized the philosophy of yoga, that had been in my mind for many years, was very similar to my own. Indian and Japanese traditional cultures are very similar."

Okamura attended a lecture given by the Ghosh Yoga Institute in the public prosecutor's office at the Ministry of Justice. "A yoga demonstration followed the lecture. I felt so happy, and immediately joined the class," she said. The principals, Jibananda and Karuna Ghosh originally from Calcutta, tailor their yoga postures to suit each student, a system that Okamura finds very helpful. "No special dress is required, nor partner, nor instrument. There is no religious indoctrination. I am energized, and have improved concentration for my work. Everybody has some mission in life, and yoga helps me to think about mine," she said.

The Ghosh Yoga Institute, established in Shinjuku 32 years ago, has branches in Italy, Australia and New Zealand. It also founded, 19 years ago, the Indo-Japanese Association of Calcutta for the promotion of cultural exchanges between the two countries. The institute will hold its celebratory winter yoga training program at Hanazono Higashi Koen on Dec. 17 from 6 to 7 a.m., following it with an Indian yoga breakfast. The event is open to the public without charge, but requires reservations.