“Shift in Seasons”
“I knew Noh no Ikebana as my husband is a citrus and rice grower and a reader of the Japan Agricultural News. I always wanted to do it myself, but it was difficult while I was a primary school teacher. So, I enjoyed looking at clippings from the newspaper.
When I retired, I started to help my husband and decided to make a new challenge. One day, I sent a photo of my arrangement to the Japan Agricultural News for the first time, and it was on the paper. I was so happy that I still enjoy sending photos of my arrangements.
A good thing about Japan is that we have four seasons. With Noh no Ikebana, I particularly enjoy arranging seasonal materials freely. I enjoy looking for materials. When I find vegetables in funny shapes, I use them for my arrangements for the entrance hall, for instance.
One day, I saw red spider lilies blooming on the dike in a beautiful combination with golden rice. They were so beautiful and inspiring and I decided to make this arrangement. I cut the bamboo in half and put the flowers in front of the rice as I wanted to reproduce what I saw on the dike. Persimmons, chestnuts, and taro are here to show how autumn goes on after harvesting rice. Bitter gourds and Yuasa eggplants are the remains of the summer. Yuasa eggplants grow locally and have unique shapes.”
<Containers and tools> A rice container, a cut bamboo, a firepan, and a bamboo basket
<Materials> Red spider lilies, rice plant, chestnuts, Yuasa eggplants, taros