no-see-um: see midge.

no-fault insurance, type of indemnity plan, usually applied to automobile coverage, in which those injured in an accident receive direct payment from the company with which they themselves are insured. Originated (1947) in Saskatchewan, Canada, no-fault insurance eliminates the need for accident victims to establish another's liability, or fault, through a civil lawsuit. Lawyers' groups oppose no-fault, saying that it limits the citizen's right to sue. Supporters say that it leads to quicker settlement of accident claims and lower premium rates than the traditional tort liability system because it reduces legal fees and court costs. The first comprehensive no-fault plan in the United States was adopted (1971) in Massachusetts. Currently 13 states have no-fault auto insurance laws that in some way restrict the right of parties to file legal suits. Provisions defining when a person can sue in no-fault states vary, but motorists can generally sue for severe injuries. Recently, however, rising insurance costs have led some states to reexamine the effectiveness of no-fault insurance laws.

Vizcaíno, Sebastián, c.1550-c.1628, Spanish explorer and merchant. After an unsuccessful attempt to plant a colony in Lower California (1596), he sailed (1602) to explore the California coast, where he discovered and named Monterey Bay. In 1611 he was sent out on an unsuccessful venture to search for the fabled Pacific islands of Rica de Oro and Rica de Plata and to promote relations with Japan.

Ono no Komachi, fl. c.833-857, Japanese poet. She was celebrated for her beauty and erotically charged poetry. Ranked among the most prominent poets of her day, Ono no Komachi displayed a rare skill in weaving multiple entendres, metaphors, and emotional intensity into the elegant waka verse form. To judge from her poetry, she corresponded with a number of leading contemporary poets, several of whom may have been her lovers. Little is known about her actual life or circumstances; numerous legends have sprung up about her beauty, amorous activities, and bitter end as a wandering hag.

No, lake, S central Sudan, in the swampy Sudd region. It is formed by the floodwaters of the White Nile and varies in size seasonally. Its maximum area is c.40 sq mi (100 sq km). Much papyrus grows in the lake.

No, symbol for the element nobelium.

No: see Asian drama.

Kose no Kanaoka: see Kanaoka.

Ki no Tsurayuki, c.872-945, early Japanese diarist, literary theorist, and poet. Renowned for his erudition and skill in Chinese and Japanese poetry, Tsurayuki took the leading role in the compilation of the Kokinwakashû [collection of ancient and modern verse], the first imperial anthology of poetry. His much-cited preface to that work is the first formal articulation of a Japanese poetics and established a paradigm for future generations of poetic criticism. Tsurayuki's Tosa nikki [Tosa diary] (935), an account of an arduous journey by sea narrated in the first person by a female persona, represents the oldest extant Japanese prose fiction and the beginnings of the great tradition of diary literature.

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, ?-710?, early Japanese lyric poet. He is the greatest poet represented in the Manyôshu [collection of myriad leaves], which is the oldest extant Japanese poetry anthology. Court poet to three sovereigns, Hitomaro produced an extraordinary range of verse, from public elegies and celebrations of prosperity to more lyrical expressions of personal love and mortality, in the tanka and now archaic chôka poetic forms. His poetry is known for its sense of humanity and empathy with nature.

Island No. 10, former island in the Mississippi River, between NW Tenn. and SE Mo.; site of an important western campaign of the Civil War. With the advance of Union Gen. U. S. Grant up the Tennessee River, all Confederate positions, except New Madrid and Island No. 10, were abandoned. After the fall of New Madrid on Mar. 14, 1862, Union troops dug a canal through the swamps to allow their supply barges to bypass the heavily fortified island. Union gunboats eventually succeeded in passing the island, and reduced its shore batteries. The large Confederate garrison surrendered without a battle on Apr. 7, after the Union troops seized the only escape route.

Ama-no-hashidate: see Miyazu, Japan.

or till-less agriculture

Cultivation technique in which the soil is disturbed only along the slit or hole into which seeds are planted. Reserved detritus from previous crops covers and protects the seedbed. Primary benefits are a decreased rate of soil erosion; reduced need for equipment, fuel, and fertilizer; and significantly less time required for tending crops. The method also improves soil-aggregate formation, microbial activity in the soil, and water infiltration and storage. Conventional tillage controls weed growth by plowing and cultivating, but no-till farming selectively uses herbicides to kill weeds and the remains of the previous crop. No-till farming is one of several primitive farming methods revived as conservation measures in the 20th century.

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known as Hitomaro

(died 708, Japan) Japanese poet. He entered the service of the imperial court and later became a provincial official. Japan's first great literary figure, he lived when Japan was moving from a preliterate to a literate, civilized society. His writings, on a wide range of subjects, balance the homely qualities of primitive song with sophisticated interests and literary techniques. All 77 poems accepted as indisputably his, and many others attributed to him, appear in the Man'yoshu, the first and largest of Japan's anthologies of native poetry.

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