What is Ikebana?

Ikebana is a Japanese style flower arrangement. "ike" means alive and "bana"

means flowers. It is quite different from the Western Style flower arrangement. In Western Style, they usually make the arrangement symmetrical. On the other hand, in Sogetsu ikebana, arrangements are mostly asymmetry to add some movement. In Ikebana, space is also important, where you put your arrangements and negative spaces, which can be said to any other Japanese traditional art, such as Japanese calligraphy.

In ikebana, there is not only one style, it has consisted of more than 300 schools. There are three main schools in Ikebana. Each school has different characteristics, tools, rules, and techniques with different influences from culture, religion and inspirations of founders.

1. IKENOBO It is the oldest and it is mainly focused on arranging flowers as they are. It appreciates the beauty of the moment flowers come alive and four seasons. It was discovered in Muromachi Generation (1336-1573). Ikenobo has 3 main styles, Shoka, Rikka, and Jiyuka. In shoka, it is important to express the natural shape of flowers. In Rikka, it brings other aspects of nature, such as seasons, water and sun. Jiyuka is a freestyle.

2. OHARA Ohara style has influenced by Western flower arrangements. One of the main styles that are known in Ohara school is called “Moribana,” which is for flower arrangements on tables. Ohara is also known for coming up with “Kenzan” which is called spiky frog in English, it is used for securing flowers in place.

3. SOGETSU Lastly, Sogetsu is one of the newest style most unique of the three schools. Sogetsu style mostly uses Kenzan. It was founded by Teshigawara Sofu in 1927 after he questioned himself about always following the format in ikebana. Sogetsu is a very modern style with a lot of freedom with different materials. Since it is close to modern art, it has spread to all over the world and became one of the most popular styles.

The school I am studying is Sogetsu Style. I’ve been studying over 7 years and there are a lot of things to learn because of unlimited possibilities of materials and designs.