Although little known outside Japan until about 1986, traditional Japanese embroidery has been an integral part of Japan's culture for over a thousand years. Now refined and perfected far beyond its origins, traditional Japanese embroidery is a unique reflection of a millennium of consensus of thought. Drawing from earlier periods of history, the design motifs and colour schemes have meanings of their own. Appropriate designs and colours are selected according to the age of the wearer, the season of use, or to symbolize traditional themes, legends and classical Japanese literature.
Today this tradition is handed down through the Kurenai-Kai community in Japan, the Japanese Embroidery Center: Kurenai-Kai Ltd. in Atlanta, and Japanese Embroidery UK. Kurenai-Kai in Japan was founded by the late Master Iwao Saito. Together with tutors in Britain, America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, they have begun the work of conveying the knowledge and love of this beautiful art to other countries.
Traditional Japanese embroidery is worked with the finest quality silk and metallic threads, almost always on a silk background. The fabric is mounted on a frame which is made according to a design used for over a thousand years. It is held drum-tight and, because of this, tension can be kept on the threads to enhance the shine. The thread is reeled filament silk, used flat or twisted by hand to a variety of sizes and degree of twist. The metallics are Japanese gold or silver in several sizes, twisted around a thread core and held in place on the work by couching with a fine silk thread.
Traditional Japanese Embroidery is taught over an initial ten Phases from basic stitches to the entire range of forty-six basic traditional techniques, such as laying foundations; working veins, stamen and branches, special effects and superimposed work on an embroidered foundation; gold and silver thread work; braided cords; padding; long and short stitch; laying stiches in the weft valleys in silk faille fabric; culminating in the execution of a special work designed to incorporate all these techniques.
Kurenai-Kai Graduate Authorised Tutors are available to teach Traditional Japanese Embroidery at all levels in the United Kingdom, in a variety of locations, either in small classes or on an individual basis. Where there is no tutor in the immediate location, a class could be formed by an interested group of stitchers (minimum of six) and a tutor could travel to their venue on a one day a month, or other agreed, basis.
There are also larger classes held several times a year under the auspices of Japanese Embroidery UK. These classes are multi level, run from Monday to Friday and are either day or residential. These classes are held in March and October. Although students may work on after class, each teaching day is from 9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.
Japanese embroidery is as much an art as a discipline and some students may find the classes very different from those previously attended. Because of the intricacy of the stitches and the techniques, talking is kept to a minimum so that students may concentrate on their stitching and learn to master the handling of silk and metallic threads in order to achieve the desired beauty. While this quietness may seem strange in the beginning, students often find that this enables them to produce higher quality work than they have previously managed. For students who continue on the path to mastery, the study of Japanese embroidery offers a time for quiet reflection, the opportunity to gain an understanding of the underlying culture and to share the legacy of beauty.
