Ikenobō

Ikenobō, oldest school of floral art in Japan; the term Ikenobō later came to be used loosely to describe any classical Japanese flower arrangement. The Ikenobō (literally, “priest’s residence by a pond”) school was founded in the early 7th century by Ono no Imoko, a former Japanese envoy to China. After becoming a Buddhist priest, Ono no Imoko took up residence at Rokkaku-dō, a small temple in what was to become Kyōto. There, as part of Buddhist ritual, he began formulating the rules of arrangement for the rikka style of flower arrangement, a formal, vertically oriented style using a tall or tallish, narrow-mouthed vase. From its basic tristructure of branches representing heaven, man, and Earth, the freer, shōka style evolved. Ikenobō arrangements are divided into shin (formal), gyō (semi-formal), and so (informal).