Girly Flower Fun

In honor of Girls Day (especially since it isn't a National Holiday like Boys Day on 5/5!), we made special Hina Matsuri arrangements this week in ikebana class. I liked the arrangement because it is colorful and feels springy, it was easy to make and everything carries a special symbolism.

To begin with, we used peach blossoms. As the flower most associated with the holiday, using the pink blossoms made a lot of sense. Here, we used two clusters of branches - a tall set on the left representing the male doll, Emperor or O-dairi-sama and a shorter set on the right representing the female doll, Empress or O-hina-sama.

Two pink sweet peas symbolized the O-hina-sama's feminine kimono while the three purple sweet peas represented the O-dairi-sama's masculine kimono. This symbolism seemed especially apt to me since it matched with tea ceremony where women use red fukusa (silk cloth) and men use purple fukusa.

Using origami adornments, we gave the O-hina-sama an open fan and the O-dairi-sama a folded fan similar to the always-folded fan in tea ceremony that shows respect and politeness and represents being a guest. Neither ikebana-sensei nor any of my fellow students could remember the name of this ceremonial item. If, for some reason, you know what it's called, please clue me in. :)

The three ranunculus (red flowers) in the front represented the three maids/court maidens that serve the O-dairi-sama and the O-hina-sama.

The rape blossoms (yellow flowers) were placed on both sides to represent bonbori - special lights that usually have painted shades. We also added origami balloons to represent these.

Then we added the rape blossom leaves and other feathery greenery just to even things out at the bottom of the arrangement.

"Natural" Narcissus

The above photo is the arrangement that my sensei had on display at an Ikebana exhibit at the Daimaru Museum in Kyoto. I thought it was very beautiful; both simple and elegant.

Normally, the methods used to create traditional Enshu-school ikebana arrangements with narcissus (like this one) are not shared with beginners. But, my sensei says I am "special" so I was let in on the secrets!

The arrangement looks fairly natural, but it is not... at all. :)

First, you rub and soften the base of the narcissus, called the hakama. Then, you pull out the flower stem and the leaves - essentially removing the hakama.

Then, you snake a thin metal wire through the widest part of each of the leaves. You follow the lines of the xylem and phloem in the vascular tissue of the leaves to the very end. I felt like a skillful surgeon because I was able to insert the wires easily without having the wire emerge randomly from the center of the plant. It was quite fun!

Afterwards, it was amazing to look at the leaf and take note of the normal and natural appearance. A tiny dot on the bottom was the only visual evidence of the wire. Neat.

After all the wires are inserted, you reassemble the bundle of leaves and flowers. You can stick everything together nicely using the "glue" that comes out of the flower stem when you cut it.

Then, you place the hakama back over the set. You repeat this process for each bundle adjusting the heights to suit their purpose and location. With all the leaves wired, you are able to create the exact curves and angles that you desire.

In my arrangement, I had five elements: the ushiro-zoe, shin, mae-zoe/uchi-do, tome and the gyo. They represented the moon, heaven, stars, the earth and man respectively.

As a special bonus, I discovered that narcissus have a lovely fragrance. Elegant, beautiful, nicely scented and fun to arrange? I've found my new ikebana favorite... hands down!

Ikebana Offering

Shimogamo Shrine had a Thanksgiving (not our US holiday, just a giving of thanks) festival where students of different classic arts like ikebana could "offer" their new skills to the shrine deity in thanks. The students would then receive a gift of "hand-me-downs" from God. In my case, I received Clementine oranges and sweet rice cake triangles. Mmm.

We went on Tuesday evening to create our arrangements. My ikebana sensei had around twenty students participating in the event, including me and Tanaka-san, my landlord's wife. Each student was given a different vase and different flowers to use for their offering.

My arrangement was entirely constructed from different types of chrysanthemums. Tanaka-san's arrangement used a branch of winter sakura (cherry blossom), mums and a tree branch with red leaves. I think all of the arrangements came out very well, ours included. :)

On Wednesday, visitors could come to the shrine and admire the different offerings. In addition to all the flower arrangements, there were samples of traditional Japanese calligraphy, singers and musicians performing music and offerings of fruits and vegetables.

Kimono Painting

Two weeks ago, I attended a fascinating exhibit displaying painted kimonos. The artist whose work was on display was the brother-in-law of my Ikebana-sensei, so she helped him decorate for the show with artistically placed ikebana arrangements. The show was held in an historic machiya or traditional wooden townhouse which still had its original wood-burning stove with a built-in rice warming area. These homes (that usually doubled as merchant's workplaces) are well designed and beautifully simple.

The same could be said of the intricately painted kimonos. Each silk kimono and obi on display was painted completely by hand. As you can see in these examples, the skill and attention to detail was amazing. Especially when botanical subjects were handled, the graceful realism just jumped off the silk! This made the ikebana arrangements a natural pairing for the kimonos, don't you think?Making the event even more quintessentially Japanese, I was invited to kneel on a small pillow on the tatami mats and share a pot of green tea with the hosts and other guests who were there when I was. The tea was delicious. However, kneeling (hero pose style) for extended periods of time is fairly uncomfortable.

Ikebana for Dummies

Tonight I went to my third ikebana class. I now know that I am studying under a sensei of the Enshu school which is famous for traditional arrangements which tend to exaggerate the natural curves of branches.

However, I am focusing on moribana style arrangements. Moribana is thankfully the simplest of the ikebana styles and therefore the most suitable for beginners like me.

In moribana, you use a shallow bowl and a kenzan instead of a tall cylindrical container like my Enshu focused classmates. I also get to use way more flowers and many fewer tree branches. Yay!

Today, I tried my hand at arranging some yellow chrysanthemums (きく), daisies, and purple & white "Toruko Kikyo"(トルコききょう) which translates to "Lisianthus Eustoma Russelianum." Good grief! The Japanese name is easier! The best part about these flowers is that they (apparently) are native to Texas. That's news to me.

Some things I learned: Ikebana has a lot of rules. I do not know many of them. My ikebana-sensei loves Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas". That, sadly, is not a crucial rule and won't be on the test.

Ikebana Class

Yesterday, I went to my first ikebana (flower arranging) class with my landlord's wife, Tanaka-san. The class was held for just the two of us at the ikebana headmaster's apartment, who just happens to live on our block.

My first attempt at arranging was completely wrong. The teacher politely and slowly removed each flower and tree branch and replaced them in more of an ikebana accepted aesthetic manner. She said she knew what I "meant to do." Then, I got to dismantle the whole thing and try again. My second attempt was apparently really good. The only down side is... I have no idea what I did differently. :)

My third attempt was my homework after class. This is the version you see above. I'm pretty sure it does not properly delineate the space. Maybe it is just less impressive looking because we don't have a tokonoma (special alcove in traditional Japanese homes especially for displaying flower arrangements) in our apartment.

The teacher does not speak any English and unless we are planning to discuss basic salutations, ordering food, counting, or telling the time and date... I am useless in Japanese. So, that was interesting. Tanaka-san basically had to translate in both directions. She was amazing!

It is also important to note that chestnuts are well protected by spikes. One shouldn't squeeze them. Seriously.

On a similar note, kenzan are metallic Japanese versions of American flower arranging "frogs". These have sharp spikes which help firmly fix the flowers and branches in place. They also should not be pressed with delicate fingertips.

But, it was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to next class.