Embroidery Samples

Calligraphy Style Japanese Embroidery

• FREE UNIFORM EMBROIDERY (up to a value of $15.00).
• Highest quality Japanese embroidery available, done in house, by our own staff.
• Fast, accurate service: we normally ship within 7–10 days of receipt of your order.
• Standard colors include very red, old gold, jet black, platinum white, and midnight blue.
• Custom design service: please call toll free, 1 800 717-6288.
• Produced using the finest material from manufacturers in Japan, Germany, and the United States.
• Guaranteed, FREE Japanese translations.

We translate non-Japanese names into Japanese using the most common English pronunciation and the katakana, phonetic alphabet. If your name is pronounced otherwise, please call us so we can hear the pronunciation over the phone and translate it precisely. Translation is free for customers ordering embroidery.
The Japanese perceive English a little differently from native speakers so the name Smith, for example, is correctly rendered in Japanese as Smithu). Different translators may even use different combinations of katakana characters to produce the same sound, and both can be correct. However, for a precise rendition of an English name in Japanese, the translator needs to be completely fluent in both languages and, needless to say, ours are.
Quality: Our custom embroidery is created "in house" using the very best Japanese industrial embroidery machines and special software. We only embroider karate uniforms and belts, and have spent many years perfecting the process.
Calligraphy: We developed the concept of digitizing Japanese characters, stroke by stroke as they are written by Oriental calligraphers, and used it to produce "Gyosho," a computer generated typeface that retains all the warmth and beauty of the written original. (Please see below). Designs embroidered in "Gyosho" using titanium needles and the best quality tri-lobal Dacron embroidery threads from Japan and Germany are beautiful, durable, and unique to our company.

Key to Calligraphy

03. Aikido
32. Budo
54. Bushido
07. Chito Ryu
50. Dojo
37. Godan
05. Goju Ryu
27. Hanshi
51. Iaido
52. Isshin Ryu
49. Japan
19. Japan Karate Assn.
48. Judo
20. Jujutsu
01. Karate Do
53. Kendo
23. Kenpo
02. Kobudo
22. Kokusai
55. Kyokushinkai
26. Kyoshi
39. Nanadan
34. Nidan
18. Nihon Karate Do
16. Okinawan Goju Ryu
17. Okinawan Karate-Do
15. Okinawan Kobudo
21. Renmei
25. Renshi
38. Rokudan
47. Ryukyu
35. Sandan
56. Seibukan
28. Senpai
29. Sensei
30. Shihan
06. Shito Ryu
33. Shodan
11. Shorin Ryu Kobayashi
12. Shorin Ryu Matsubayashi
13. Shorin Ryu Shobayashi
14. Shotokai
10. Shotokan
31. Soke
24. Tode
04. Uechi Ryu
09. Wado Kai
08. Wado Ryu
36. Yondan
40. 4th Dan
41. 5th Dan
42. 6th Dan
43. 7th Dan
44. 8th Dan
45. 9th Dan
46. 10th Dan

Embroidery
Thirty years ago the Singer Commercial swing needle machine was the workhorse of the custom embroidery industry. The karate belt or uniform was guided by hand while the operator used a knee control to alter the "swing" or width of the needle's path to create the design. Even with a skilled and experienced embroiderer results were somewhat unpredictable and the sewing had the tendency to be of low density and would come unraveled as a result. Other major drawbacks included the inability to produce exact duplicates of designs, and insufficient power to sew through the entire belt. This meant that the covering material had to be embroidered first then the belt assembled by sewing over the face of the design, noticeably detracting from its appearance.

Technology has come to the rescue, but at a price. Modern Japanese embroidery machines like the Tajima multi-needle units we use are run by special software that allows size, stitch density, and sequence to be carefully programmed into the machine before sewing begins.

Artistically speaking, the new machines have opened up many avenues. For example, we have developed a way to create the three dimensional effect of hand rendered Japanese calligraphy by individually digitizing the characters of a classic script of the Gyosho or cursive type. We sew the calligraphy with a double zigzag underlay followed by almost twice the normal amount of stitching. This gives great visual depth, excellent base coverage, and superb color density. The end result is an elegant design that is both true to the calligrapher's art and robust enough to withstand serious use. It is also very, very beautiful!

The cost of all this? A modern Japanese embroidery machine with the full software package will cost you about as much as a new Lexus. And just think, when you buy a new Meijin uniform the embroidery is FREE! (up to value of $15.00).

To Order Call Toll Free
1 800 717 6288

ORDERING & INFORMATION

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Order Desk: (800) 717-6288
As we produce, publish, or manufacture much of what we sell,
we welcome questions of a technical nature on (818) 889-3856
(8am-8pm PST Mon-Sat)

Dragon Associates Inc.
P.O. Box 6039, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359
e-mail: dragon@dragon-tsunami.org