Call Kikuo Morimoto a smooth operator. He knows good silk when he sees it.

But nothing, says the 56-year-old weaver, compares with the traditional ikat silk of Cambodia. Morimoto has spent the last decade ensuring the war-ravaged country's silk weaving traditions, banned by the Pol Pot regime, are not lost to history.

Soon after he started out in his native Kyoto to learn the art of yuzen--traditional silk dyeing for kimono--Morimoto turned his interest to Southeast Asian fabrics.

Eventually, he moved to Thailand where he worked within the local textile industry. The memory of his first glimpse of ikat has never left him. The fabric seemed to be alive, he says.

Ikat is created using silk threads that are individually dyed and woven in intricate patterns. It requires a precise technique that can only be done by hand.

But after the dark ages of Pol Pot--when Cambodians were forced to wear nothing but black--and the ensuing civil war, there remained only a hint of the ancient silk fabrics the Khmer people had spent centuries developing.

Determined to revive the art in a way that could also benefit the people of Cambodia, Morimoto moved to Phnom Penh and set up the Institute for Khmer Traditional Textiles.

It is now located in Sien Reap, close to the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat, the former hub of the Khmer empire.

With the help of UNESCO, Morimoto scoured the country in search of skilled weavers, most of whom were getting on in years. They would prove to be the key, passing on their skills to young apprentices.

Now, about 500 people are involved in Morimoto's self-sustaining system of silk textile production.

The project encompasses the entire silk-making process. Even once-barren land has been replanted with the mulberry trees favored by silkworms.

Everyone gets paid. Parents can even bring their children to work.

``It's my job to keep their creative juices flowing, encouraging them to create even better products,'' says Morimoto.

His products have gained recognition both at home and abroad.

He recently became the first Japanese recipient of the prestigious international Rolex Award for enterprise.

Morimoto likes to remind visitors that it has been an upward struggle.

He once lost around 10 skilled weavers to a high-paying tourist facility that hosted live weaving displays.

His core group, however, did not budge.

Morimoto beamed, ``They told me, they like making the real stuff at my place.''(IHT/Asahi: January 13,2005)