History

Ohara School of Ikebana, Japan

Ikebana, one of the traditional arts of Japan, has been practised for more than six hundred years. It developed from the ritual of offering flowers in the Buddhist Temples. By the middle of the fifteenth century, with the emergence of the first classical styles, Ikebana achieved the status of an art form independent of its religious origins, though it continued to retain strong symbolic and philosophical overtones. The first teachers and students were priests and members of the nobility, but as time passed, many schools arose, styles changed and Ikebana came to be practised at all levels of Japanese society.

The Ohara School, one of the most important Ikebana Schools in Japan, celebrated in 1995 its 100th anniversary.

The first Headmaster Unshin Ohara founded the Ohara School and originated Moribana, the first style in the history of Ikebana to capture the essence of natural scenic beauty.

Second Headmaster Koun Ohara established Moribana as a formal style and promoted Ikebana nationwide.

Third Headmaster Houn Ohara imbued landscape works with strong literary and pictorial connotations, creating Bunjin and Rimpa arrangements.

Fourth Headmaster Natsuki Ohara developed original forms of Ikebana, Hana Mai and Hana-isho, to suit the new environment in which people now live and work.

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