Japanese Embroidery Introduced to the West   After centuries of tradition, the wearing of the kimono as daily apparel diminished in Japan following the Second World War. Japanese embroidery had been handed down from Master to apprentice for over a thousand years but with the decline in the wearing of kimono, the art was destined to disappear completely. Following years as an apprentice within the stitching community, in 1965 the late Master Iwao Saito founded the Kurenai-Kai Community in Togane City, near Tokyo. He realised that the sixteen hundred year tradition would soon be lost for ever if no positive action was taken to ensure its survival and, at age 55, he took the momentous decision to dedicate the rest of his life to this art form. Five years later Master Saito started to teach Japanese embroidery to people other than his own apprentices, wrote and published a textbook (the first ever on Japanese embroidery), and began to teach classes in many parts of Japan. The horizons were widened between the years of 1976, when exhibitions were started in Japan, to 1980 when the first works were shown in America, swiftly followed by the first formal classes outside Japan. In 1989 the Japanese Embroidery Center was established in Atlanta, Georgia, under the guidance of Shuji Tamura, the late Master's Designated Successor, and classes continue to take place there throughout the year. Having succeeded with classes in America, the Center expanded further into the English speaking world with classes in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.  In 1991 the first classes were held in England. As more tutors have qualified from amongst the next generation of students, classes have expanded to Germany and France. Margaret Lewis