Category Archives: Noh no Ikebana

“Since I began Noh no Ikebana, I come to take a closer look at small changes in agricultural products. Now I know that vegetables have such beautiful flowers, fruits change colors day by day and sprouting onions are so cute. The best part of Noh no Ikebana is how we can arrange the materials freely without any restrictions. Our Noh no Ikebana group was established in 1998. Now we have eight members. To make our arrangements even more attractive to the audience, we sometimes ask some of the members who have experience in traditional-style ikebana for some advice. The theme today is early autumn. What you see in the background … Continue reading →

“Five years ago, I participated in an event presented by a local all-female group of Noh no Ikebana arrangers. Then after that, I began Noh no Ikebana. The fun of Noh no Ikebana for me is how we arrange something very ordinary, vegetables and flowers, freely and using our senses. Usually, I enjoy having a small arrangement of a small number of materials at the entrance. I make dried flowers too so that I can enjoy them throughout the year. I made this arrangement with a friend of mine, Ritsuko Yasu, 75. The theme is the gift of summer. Sunflowers represent the Sun, while corns, tomatoes, and all other summer … Continue reading →

  “In 1989, I talked to the members of the Women’s Group of the Shinden branch of an agricultural cooperative in Chita, Aichi Prefecture, (JA Aichi Chita, or JA Higashi-Chita back then), and started a local Noh no Ikebana club. Since then, we’ve been creating new arrangements for the entrance of the office of the Shinden Branch every Monday. We use sesame flowers, carrots flowers, two-legged Japanese radishes and all other materials you don’t usually get to see at your local supermarkets. So people often tell us that they never thought they were vegetable flowers or they’d never seen vegetables in such funny shape. We feel happy to hear these … Continue reading →

I began Noh no Ikebana five years ago. I love how we can freely enjoy arranging vegetables and flowers in whatever way we like, because in Noh no Ikebana, there are no ryuha (schools) or rules like the ones in traditional flower arrangements. We can apply our sense and feeling that we have from our daily work as farmers, and that’s why we can make such dynamic and lively arrangements. The title of this arrangement is “Spring has come.” A cabbage shows its face from the surface of the snow after long cold winter. Wild vegetables sprout amid thawing snow. I used them as the motifs to express how the … Continue reading →

With Noh no Ikebana, I often chose dishes such as kimchi and chirashi zushi (sushi with colorful toppings) as a theme for my arrangement, in addition to seasonal features and appreciation for agricultural products. In that case, I combine ingredients and tools I use for the dishes with flowers and other materials to give it a sense of seasons. The theme of this arrangement is “The first spring storm.” The container is a dead branch of Japanese apricot I found in my garden. I added several types of local specialties, such as mushrooms, strawberries, and hassaku oranges. I used no flowers, no plants. However, I used the mushrooms instead of … Continue reading →