Ikebana in London

I visited Hanako Motoya, Ikebana master of the Obara school.

Here I introduce how Japanese Ikebana is spreading in the UK.

In the UK, the culture of placing flowers in everyday life is deeply rooted. In contrast to the luxurious flower arrangements of the West, Japanese ikebana looks simple but is profound and has captured the hearts of the British people.

Hanako has received a bronze medal for her work at the famous Chelsea Flower Show in London.

It seems that 25 years of dedication to Ikebana has led her to this prestigious award.

For her, Ikebana has gone beyond knowledge and skills and has become a part of her body over the past 25 years.

Comments from students who took part in the lessons

The most interesting thing for me was that someone with a good eye could make a difference to my work as an amateur with just a few tweaks. It was a very profound experience.

The Japanese have always found beauty in imperfection and the transience of time, as in the word wabi-sabi.

I was worried that English people who had not grown up in Japan would find 100 roses more beautiful than just five flowers.

However, I was wrong in my imagination, and I felt that the insight to see the beautiful expressions of the five flowers in mutual response to each other is a sensibility that only the British, whose lives are lived with flowers, could have.

▶︎Video

▶︎Website of Hanako Ikebana master

▶︎The venue of lesson

Thank you for reading.