I am watching this thread with great interest. I have acquired a Japanese sewing machine without any attachments or manual, so am in the dark as to all the workings. The threading seems easy, and the bobbin case seems to work freely, but the needle does not pick up the bobbin thread. I will have to clean out the thread from the bobbin that was in the machine and put new thread on it, as it is a snarly mess. there were two more bobbins with the machine but each one is a different size. I guess next step is to try each bobbin to see if one of them will work. Keep trying, Taz, and let me know how you fare. I will do the same! Good luck!