“Story of greens and flowers”
HIROSHIMA, May 8 – Noh no Ikebana is one form of flower arrangements. It’s mainly for farmers and arranges agricultural products as materials and farm instruments as containers. It often features the joy people find in different seasons and everyday lives in their hometowns. The new quarterly series of articles, “Letters with Noh no Ikebana in season,” has now begun to share a heart of hospitality (o-mo-te-na-shi in Japanese) that the lovers of Noh no Ikebana put in their works.
We want to share our love for vegetables in season: Noh no Ikebana Club at Matsunagakita Branch of JA Fukuyama-shi (Hiroshima Prefecture)
<Containers & Tools> A jag, a wood bucket, a hand weeder, etc.
<Materials> Persimmon, pomegranate, and azalea branches, irises, water celery, young rice plants, asparagus, etc.
“Noh no Ikebana Club at Matsunagakita Branch of JA Fukuyama-shi (Hiroshima Prefecture) was formed three years ago. We meet twice a month to enjoy the arrangements and get-togethers. Also, we take turns decorating the branch lobby with a new arrangement every week.
“Igusa road to Olympics”
These two arrangements here are created by our voluntary members. For “Story of greens and flowers,” we use colorful new leaves of local persimmon and pomegranate trees to make it look like a very common sight of Japanese villages in early summer. Fresh young leaves are so pretty this season, and they are accompanied by plants that grow in water, like rice and irises.
“Igusa road to Olympics” features igusa rush grass, which is a local specialty of Bingo area, the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture. We wanted to keep sharing the dream for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games postponed to 2021. So, we created a road to Olympic cauldron.
We’d like to continue doing Noh no Ikebana so that we can stay calm and find happiness even in this challenging time.”
<Container & Materials> igusa rush grass, a tatami mat, a straw hat, snapdragons, urn orchids, etc.