Chieko Hoshiai In a word, she is a born embroiderer. She is an author of needle art. She loves both pin and pen. She is quite innovative among Japanese needleworker. She is not only skillful in her work, but also unique. She can speak about embroidery both historically and also, from a global stand-point. When speaking of embroidery, she has always paid attention to the background of the said embroidery, and has tried to understand, from the start, under what circumstances those embroideries were created. The more she learned about embroidery, the more unpleasant she felt because Japanese ladies innocently undervalued needlework as minor art. This was the reason why she stepped into this field about 40 years ago. She founded a needlework school called Nirenokai, through which she has extended her activities for the innovation of Japanese needlework. Exhibitions (by Nirenokai) and other events have taken place in most of the major Japanese cities. She has introduced embroidery of the world through reproductions such as, The Bradford Table Carpet (Great Britain), La Tapisserie de Bayeux (France), and select embroideries of William Morris. She introduced the use of gold thread in the embroidery which is on display at the Russian Ermitazh Museum. She interpreted Icelandic Folk Embroideries which are on display at the Natioal Museum of Iceland. She has also mastered the Matyo stitches of Hungary, the Tehuana stitches of Mexico and the stitches from the Unnan area of China. She surely loves embroidery: she surely loves the people who use this art on their costumes and furniture. Whenever a work made a strong impression on her, she could not resist visiting its place of origin. She has visited Museums, native private homes, old castles,auctions, and anywhere els she expected to satisfy her curiosity. She has been deeply interested in 16th and 19th century English Embroidery for a long time. She was so enthusiastic to learn about the works of Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I (16 c.) and William Morris and his wife Jane (19 c.), that she wished to write about them and their embroideries. When Chieko was young, she wished to be an author. Her dream was actualized when she read those brilliant, sweet, cool or tragic stories of the British leaders who colored the history of England. Some of her essays, which have been published in various Japanese magazines and books, are in the Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Recently, she gave a lecture in Tokyo entitled: The Riddle of Elizabeth I Portraits. Chieko Hoshiai is still educating the Japanese public about Needlework arts through her talented use of pin and pen. There are plenty of handcraft materials in her studio.