Ikebana exhibition

いけばな　成月流


Last Saturday was a fine, balmy evening, and I got together with a friend for a much needed night on the town.

We met in Roppongi, not far from the toast of all that symbolizes affluence in Tokyo, Roppongi Hills.

Asahi TV has its headquarters in Roppongi Hills, and in the TV station's showroom there was an ikebana exhibition going on. My friend being a florist, we had a look around.

As with all traditional pursuits in Japan, ikebana comes in various schools - hundreds of them, in fact. On display this weekend were the floral fancies of the Seigetsu school - the school's 42nd exhibition.

The Seigetsu school is a relative newcomer to the ikebana world, having begun in 1930 and therefore its leading family being in only its second generation. According to a synopsis of the school's philosophy, it began as a way of reaching out to the 'realm of the unknown'.

Besides that, the talk of 'letting the flowers express the life in them' is common to all of ikebana. It would take, no doubt, more than a synopsis to fully explain the supposed uniqueness of the Seigetsu approach.

Anyway, philosophy aside, the arrangements took 'the movement of color in autumn' as their theme, and, for a single theme, showed a stunning variety of approach.

Uploaded here are a few of the ones that most appealed to me. Enjoy.






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Tags

Japan Tokyo ikebana
Roppongi Hills flower Roppongi