Frank Gibney, a journalist, author and commentator who wrote seminal books on Japan, helped expand Encyclopedia Britannica's operations in Asia and began a research organization focused on trans-Pacific relations, died April 9 at his home in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 81.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Working for naval intelligence during World War II and as a postwar Tokyo bureau chief for Time and Life magazines, Gibney saw firsthand the pivotal events of East Asian life during the mid-20th century.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>While with Time Life, Gibney was one of the first news correspondents in South Korea when major conflict arose there in 1950. He was nearly killed when the South Korean Army prematurely detonated a bridge during the frenzied evacuation of Seoul.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>His first book, 'Five Gentlemen of Japan' –

1953, was among the first to depict humanely the wartime enemy through portraits of a journalist, a naval officer, a steelworker, a farmer and Emperor Hirohito, posthumously called Emperor Showa.

Gibney's other works include "Japan: The Fragile Superpower" (1976), which contrasted U.S. and Japanese cultural and business traditions.

The Washington Post RICHARD G. ROA Richard G. Roa, a New York-born Tokyo resident who spent more than 30 years working in Japanese business, died Wednesday morning of unexplained causes. He was 75.

Roa had been coordinating business projects between Japan and the United States since 1968. He founded International Ventures Japan in 2004 to help foreign companies expand in the Japanese market.

Before establishing the consulting venture, Roa also led projects to promote Japanese sports and entertainment talent overseas.

A wake for Roa will be held Saturday at Himonya Kaikan hall in Tokyo's Meguro Ward. The funeral will be held Sunday at the same venue.