Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Sometimes it is also referred to as “Kado,” or “The Way of Flowers.”Josh Smith often performs live events of Japanese Shakuhachi bamboo flute music in collaboration with Flower Arranging.
Serene Gardens will be organizing Ikebana Flower Arranging events, workshops and lessons in the new year. We encourage everyone to explore this interesting way of arranging flowers in a natural and artistic way with us.
My name is Satomi Smith and from childhood I have informally learned Ikebana from my mother, who is a licensed Ikenobo-style teacher, and continue to take lessons with her teacher in Fukui, Japan. Click here to learn about some of the various Ikebana Schools.
Here is a recent Thanksgiving and Autumn colored flower display I did at home:
This traditional art is a way of displaying flowers and interior decorating similar to western flower arrangement. However, it is unique and different in the following ways:
Minimalistic:
Unlike western flower arrangement, which emphasizes color, volume, and full-bloomed flowers, Japanese flower arrangement appreciates a lack of color, empty space, and other areas of the plant, such as its stems and leaves.
The beauty is to be expressed with a minimal number of blooms. In other words, it has to be “Just Enough,” but not “Too Much.” Here is an example of the “minimalist” approach:
Representations of Nature:
This serene art form aims to bring raw nature into your room. Therefore, it uses seasonal materials, several different types of plants, and various parts of the flowers and plants in one arrangement. The ultimate Ikebana experience would be to climb a mountain and use the materials you collected on the mountain to represent that scenery in your room. This is an art that reflects the connection between nature, humans, and creativity.
Serenity in Avoiding Symmetry:
Western flower arrangements tend to have the same face from various angles, but Japanese flower arrangements usually have a centered front face. This is because Ikebana is traditionally displayed in an elevated alcove, called a tokonoma, or at the front entrance.
I personally think it is partially due to the limited size of Japanese houses, so there is not much space to display flower vases in places where people can see them from all directions. However, thanks to this restriction and being front-centered, Ikebana has developed ways of showing depth using lines, shapes, and spaces, similar to perspective drawings or 3D effects.
Spirituality:
Kado stems from Buddhism and animism within Shinto, and displaying a flower is a way to appreciate nature and connect the past, present, and future. For example, in a traditional style of ikebana, certain leaves represent the past (our ancestors), the present (ourselves) and the future (our children), and it is arranged in a circular shape representing the circle of life and death. These spiritual symbols that are inherent in nature remind us of the beauty of impermanence and how precious our time here is.
The Importance of Flower Containers:
Unlike western flower arrangement that often fills the container with various flowers and plants, the container displaying the flower arrangement is a very important part of this art. Our arrangement starts from choosing the right container for the flower material we are using and where you are displaying it.
Various styles, shapes and materials of containers are used in creating a beautiful display. The most common container is ceramic pottery vases; please visit our Japanese Pottery Page for more information and examples of items that we hand select in Japan and import.
There are many traditional flower schools in Japan that have come about, and they all maintain their own unique principles and beliefs about this art form. Click on the Ikebana Schools Page to see examples of their flowers and learn more about some of their similarities and differences.
Here are some links to some similar Ikebana related articles:
Thanksgiving and Autumn Colored Flower Arrangements
Rustic Japanese Pottery
