TOKYO (AP) — Ikebana, the Japanese art of arranging flowers, is a form of expression that dates back more than 500 years.
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that → arrange → expression
It continues to blossom, quietly, not only with traditionalists but also with newcomers who find its blend of creativity and mindfulness to be restorative.
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blend → continue → creativity
Ikebana can be a bit like solving a puzzle, except there’s no fixed answer.
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Ikebana → solve → puzzle
Because each flower, and human individual, is different, there are multiple solutions.
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flower → be → ?
“There’s a ‘detox’ purifying factor, and a healing,” says Hiroyuki Okada, 40, who began taking lessons in ikebana about seven years ago.
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who → ’ → ikebana
He now teaches Ikenobo, the oldest of three major ikebana schools.
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He → teach → schools
Okada, who also teaches backflips to anyone who wants to learn, usually wears silver chains and jeans, but he wears a nice kimono when he formally demonstrates his arrangements.
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he → teach → arrangements
He considers himself typical of those drawn to ikebana today, people looking for joy, purpose, or solace from the daily grind or pain of modern life.
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himself → consider → life
“In arranging (flowers), you are dealing with the life that is there, the beauty, of course, but you find what’s in your heart,” said Okada.
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Okada → arrange → heart
“You come face to face with yourself.”
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You → come → yourself
The Kyoto-based Ikenobo school, which is rooted in Buddhism, now has chapters around the world.
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which → base → world
Okada’s previous job at a nonprofit involved talking to people from around the world, and he realized how different — and alike — people were.
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people → involve → world
When he switched to his current job, at a flower shop, he decided to take up a pursuit that was Japanese, so he could explore that aspect of himself, and one that could be done for a long time, alone.
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that → switch → time
Observing how flowers and plants grow is part of the art
“It is about the relationship of the creator with the flowers,” said Senko Ikenobo, headmaster-designate of the Ikenobo school.
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Ikenobo → observe → school
Her family dates back generations to the originators of the art.
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family → date → art
Jeannette Haviland-Jones, professor of social psychology at Rutgers University, says studies have shown “that flowers and even flower scents promote happiness in people.
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flowers → say → people
We suggested a coevolutionary theory for this in which flowers became the ‘pets’ of the plant world.
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flowers → suggest → world
Besides a flower’s beauty and fragrance, the feel of its petals and leaves to the touch is crucial, like petting a kitten or a puppy, according to Okada.
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feel → pet → Okada
Ikebana can be for everyone
There are toddlers who do Ikenobo, copying their moms, and there are devoted centenarians.
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who → be → moms
The headmaster-designate says she has seen ikebana help women who are juggling work and motherhood, or taking care of aging parents.
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who → say → parents
Ikebana has a healing effect similar to that of yoga, meditation or play, says Mayu Shimizu, who works for an online educational service and has been taking lessons from Okada for about three years.
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who → have → years
“I like this moment of nothingness when you are concentrating on the flowers before you,” she says.
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she → like → you
“My mind feels clearer.
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mind → feel → ?
I feel more at peace, and gentle.”
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I → feel → peace
Flowers portray the stages of human life and connect people
One traditional Ikenobo arrangement is shoka shofutai, which attempts to arrange the flowers, leaves and branches as they might look in nature, reaching toward sunlight or bending in the wind.
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they → portray → wind
The vase, sometimes crafted from wood or pottery, also becomes part of the arrangement’s vision.
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vase → craft → vision
Yet the overall look is pure and simple, expressing the life cycle of flowers — from blossoming through withering — through three main elements:
— Shin, the tallest element, is arranged first, representing one’s core, reaching up toward the sky.
— Soe, which is trimmed to about two-thirds the height of the shin and is placed at the side, expresses the flower’s individuality.
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which → express → individuality
The leaves might be slightly faded, representing the later stages of life.
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leaves → fade → life
Choose a blossom or fresh small leaves — things that are being born.
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that → choose → blossom
There are also freer, spinoff styles that look more like casual, Western-style bouquets than the stoic, textbook-oriented shoka shofutai.
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that → be → shofutai
That may feel easier, and more fun, for beginners.
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That → feel → beginners
Just as ikebana connects a person with flowers, those who practice the art say it’s also about the passing of the art over generations, connecting people.
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it → connect → people
The Aporia
