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Saida+Sullivan
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Notebook / Ohara School Seasonal Expression of Space

September 18, 2024

The Japanese Art of Flower Arrangement, Ikebana, is over 600 years old. While the art form of Ikebana emerged as an independent art form in the Muromachi Period (1338 – 1573), it is during the Edo Period (1603-1867) that it flourished. During the Edo period the Japanese traditional culture and arts reached a peak of excellence. Today there are approximately 3000 Ikebana schools in Japan each with a different Headmaster and style of its own. In its highest form, this art form is spiritual and philosophical in nature. A passage from Yukio Mishima’s novel, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion reads,

“The flowers and leaves, which had formerly existed as they were, had now been transformed into flowers and leaves as they ought to be.”

Eight schools of Ikebana are considered predominant today including: Sogetsu, Ikenobu, Ohara, Saga Goryu, Misho-Ryu, Shinpa Seizan, Ichiyo, Ryusei-ha. The Ohara school of ikebana began in 1861 with its first headmaster Unshin Ohara. At this time Japan was still closed to the world. A few later in 1868, and after 260 years of being closed off from the world, Japan opens up the country to the West (or is forced to) and European and American culture floods into the country beginning the Meiji Restoration. Ikebana is strongly influenced by new floral materials from the West that were never seen before. This begins the Meiji Restoration period and it is at this time that Unshin Ohara incorporates many new western flowers that were suitable for the Tokonoma in a tea house, guest room of a traditional Japanese house, as well as the drawing room of new western style houses being built.
Tokonoma -Alcove for Decorative Items

Tokonoma -Alcove for Decorative Items

Mimi Sullivan of Saida + Sullivan Design Partners has been studying in the Ohara School of Ikebana for ten years. Seasons have a strong identity in Japan and the Ohara school is known for its deep respect for floral materials in their most natural forms and expression of the season. Broadly speaking a the 3-stem style, asymmetrical triangle arrangement became the basic form underlying the styles of most schools both historical and contemporary. Each style of arrangement in the Ohara school has compositional relationships and and length and angle placement rules for the each style along with the number of stems and plant materials used. Plant materials are placed into sophisticated asymmetrical designs with the use of "empty" space as an essential feature of the composition. Harmony among the materials, the container and the spatial setting is crucial. Arrangements should always reflect the essence of nature and the changing seasons. This is the context in which the art of Ohara flower arranging exists. While Ohara is historic, today it strives to bring the natural world into contemporary spaces where people live and work.

Ohara has many forms that are practiced. The Five Pillars of Ohara School are:

  • Moribana – a flat vase with flowers and plant materials

  • Hana-Isho – an elementary style that beginners learn in an upright or inclining form, a one row form or a round (circular) form.

  • Heika – a tall cylindrical vase with narrow mouth in either upright, inclining or cascading forms

  • Hana-Kanade – form that express the 3-d sculptural quality of plants with multiple stems

  • Hanamai – form that expresses the dancing of flowers sculptural quality with only two stems.

Some advanced forms include:

  • Color Scheme – uses a flat vase and seven materials to emphasize the seasonal qualities and beauty of natural environments.

  • Landscape – (realistic and traditional) uses a flat vase and emphasizes connecting with nature, recreating natural scenery by using materials in a naturalistic way and expressing water.

  • Rimpa – is based on the highly decorative works of the Rimpa School of painting from the Edo period

  • Bunjin – (literati flowers) uses a distinctive shaped upright vase and is a form inspired by traditional Chinese landscapes and paintings.

Moribana Form

Moribana Form

Hana-isho – Inclining Form

Hana-isho – Inclining Form

Heika Form

Heika Form

Hana Kanade

Hana Kanade

Hanamai Form

Hanamai Form

Landscape Form

Landscape Form

Rimpa Form

Rimpa Form

Ohara Ikebana Evolving
The newest form is called Shohinka. The Shohinka arrangement is a small ikebana arrangement. In it, beauty is expressed in an abbreviated fashion using few materials to exaggerate their natural essence grace. Elegance of plant materials and containers are emphasized.
Shohinka Form

Shohinka Form

Ikebana and Architecture
For Mimi, all her arrangements parallel how she thinks about designing architecture… they have context, structure, composition, proportion, shape, color and texture. As an architect she is always aware of creating a space within them as well as how they define a space around them.

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