Make friends with flowers the Japanese way

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

To create a Japanese flower arrangement, or ikebana, is to make friends with the flowers, leaves, and stems that make up the arrangements, according to Manabu Noda, Ikebana expert and instructor from the Ikenobo Ikebana Society in Japan.

"Make friends with the lily, see which way it wants to go, talk to it, see which way it is smiling," he said as he demonstrated the ancient art to women from the Perhimpunan Ikenobo Ikebana Indonesia at the Japan Foundation in Jakarta recently.

Noda's creation may be a little stark compared to the more familiar heavily layered bouquets today, but ikebana's play on space and on the strengths of each individual stem of flower bring it to the level of poetry instead. In Japan, ikebana is considered an art form and even a way of life or kado (ka meaning flower, do, way or path).

"Ikebana is about how to use flowers to express something," Noda said, explaining that plants and flowers can convey happiness or sadness, impressions of nature and the joy of events.

Noda's second arrangement, done in the tradition of the Shoka style was created to enhance the feeling of coolness since "Jakarta is a hot place".

Using three kinds of plants and a open blue container, Noda made white orchids peek through a linear screen of bulrush, "the color combination creating a cool feeling," and a single purple iris flower was added close to the water surface to "bring the viewer's eyes to the water".

According to the Ikenobo website www.ikenobo.jp, the custom of placing flowers on altars in Japan, is believed to date back to the sixth century A.D. when Buddhism was first introduced by way of Korea. It gained popularity in the Heian period (794-1192).

With over 500 years of recorded history, the Ikenobo tradition of ikebana is believed to have first been created at the Rokkakudo Temple in Kyoto, Japan, founded by Prince Shotoku near a pond (ike) where Prince Shotoku bathed. Later an emissary of the prince, Ono-no-Imoko, began the tradition by offering flowers in memory of the prince at a priest's hut (bo) near the pond.

Ono-no-Imoko is considered to be the founder of Ikenobo, and succeeding generations of the Ikenobo family, as head priests of the temple, have offered flowers to Buddha morning and evening.

Over the centuries the Ikenobo descendants became famous as masters of ikebana, and although other schools have branched off from Ikenobo, it is widely believed that ikebana began with Ikebono.

Changes in customs and lifestyles resulted in the three main styles of Ikenobo known today -- Rikka, Shoka, and Free Style (Jiyuka).

The most formal style of Ikenobo Ikebana, the Rikka Shofutai, or standing flowers, that originated in the Muromachi period in the 15th century, Noda said, explaining that its more modern version, the Rikka Shimputai, was introduced by the current Ikebono headmaster Sen'ei Ikenobo in 2000.

This modern Rikka style allows more of the arranger's expression, thoughts and creativity because it is released from the rigid rules and form seen in the older version of Rikka. Rikka Shimputai has a more relaxed feeling and fresh appearance.

According to Noda, the most important factors to consider are contrasting materials, color, quantity, and texture used for the arrangement. "Contrasting qualities enhance one other. Using many types of material, but they should have a sense of harmony," he explained.

The Shoka style aims to express the characteristics of the flowers through simplicity, Noda said, adding that only three types of plants are used in the arrangement. The three form a unity which expresses life's perpetual change and renewal.

A new style developed by Ikenobo, the Shoka Shimputai, presents a bright, modern feeling, two main parts responding to each other with contrasting yet harmonious qualities, and a third added as a finishing touch.

The most recent addition to the Ikenobo tradition is the Free Style where one is released from the rules of the two other styles.

"Sometimes you can change the shape of a leaf, but you must have a reason, and expression comes first in Free Style," Noda explained.

Whether using the Rikka, Shoka, or the Free Style, the most important thing to note in ikebana is that each plant has its own inherent character, or shussho, which determines how it will grow, according to ikenobo.jp.

Grasping the difference between nature and shussho is the first step toward creating a beautiful ikebana, the second is for the arranger to express his impressions by the best use of the nature and shussho of the materials.

Today the Ikenobo school has branched out throughout the world, and ikebana is no longer restricted to traditional Japan or Japanese floral material.

In Indonesia the school is represented by Perhimpunan Ikenobo Ikebana Indonesia. For more information please contact the organization's president, Iman Sumar, at imansumar@yahoo.com or the Japan Foundation, Gedung Summitmas I, 3rd Floor, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 61-62, South Jakarta. Phone (021) 5201266.