Category Archives: Photos

[Joy of Noh no Ikebana] Miyoko Nakamura (90) from Sakawa Town, Kochi Prefecture: Purple flowers and vegetables will give my arrangement beautiful colors

“I made my first Noh no Ikebana arrangement almost ten years ago when I saw one of my friends in my neighborhood started to post photos of her artworks. In my first arrangement, I remember, I used red and white flowering kale and white Japanese daikon radish and put them in a big shallow ball called sawachi, which we use for local dishes. Since then, I’m having fun making arrangements on my own, using unique materials such as funny-shaped sprouting Konjac and a monster daikon radish. In Noh no Ikebana, I can express my imagination freely, and that’s why I like it very much. The theme of this arrangement is … Continue reading

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Sushi roll artist helping local farmers

Sushi with strawberries, mandarin oranges and cherries – a 33-year-old homemaker in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Aki Yamaoka is giving a helping hand to local rice farmers by creating several kinds of artistic sushi rolls featuring local agricultural products. The sushi rolls are called “kazari makizushi” in Japanese. They are made of rice colored with red pickled ginger and other ingredients, as well as vegetables and cheese. You arrange them delicately so that the cross-section will show motifs when the roll is cut. So far, she’s created more than 150 kinds of them with motifs she took from agricultural products and 12 Japanese zodiac animals, for example. Yamaoka always uses … Continue reading

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Kokeshium: traditional craft and domestic flowers combined to make brilliant debut

TOKYO, Jun. 24 – A kokeshi-shaped herbarium bottle from You Kaen, a flower distributer and seller based in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, has been a big hit. The name of the product is Kokeshium. It’s a kokeshi doll with a glass body that contains dried flowers of domestically-grown globe amaranth, sophila and such, and specially designed herbarium oil. On top of the bottle is the face of a traditional wooden doll called Naruko Kokeshi made by artisans in Osaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture. The florist proposed it to raise attention to traditional arts using flowers and unique design. As soon as the product was released in May in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, it … Continue reading

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[Joy of Noh no Ikebana] Yasutoshi Morita (69) from Iga City, Mie Prefecture: Happy to see you again this year!

“I began learning ikebana in my twenties. Since then, it’s my hobby. I’m a farmer, so I use wildflowers, green items from the mountains as well as agricultural products and tools. I put my arrangements at the entrance to welcome my guests. Or I sometimes have them displayed at the local festivals. When I make an arrangement, I start by thinking about a story. I enjoy the most when I’m thinking about tools and flowers, places, and themes. Making notes and drawings is also helpful in creating an arrangement which is close to your image. I always place importance on “subtracting.” I try to hold my temptation to show all … Continue reading

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Minuma’s road of spring in full bloom

SAITAMA, April. 5 ― Cherry blossoms on the banks of an agricultural canal in Minuma, Saitama Prefecture, are now in full bloom. They bloom brilliantly around the region called Minuma Tambo in which there are many fields for agricultural use. Minuma Tambo was created in the middle of the Edo era by draining wetlands of about 1,260 hectares. Its surrounding areas have been urbanized, but you can still enjoy the view of vast rice fields and green areas, and the rice fields are surrounded by the canal and 1984 cherry trees, mostly someiyoshino, planted on the banks. The area already had a long row of the cherry trees in the … Continue reading

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