Ikebana Exhibit at Hyakudan Kaidan

I was very happy to see beautiful, authentic and “fresh” flower arrangements in Tokyo after working in Macau for a week where all you see is silk flowers at casinos. I was looking for a place to go with my mom and found this amazing Ikebana exhibit. Hyakudan Kaidan (it literally means one hundred staircases) at Hotel Gajoen Tokyo was built in 1935 and is still beautifully preserved to have special events like this. This event was going on for a month, and it featured a few Ikebana schools each week. These are several ones I really liked.

School: 桂古流 (Katsura Ko-ryu)
Exhibitor: 新藤京華

Chrysanthemums, orange berries, red twig dogwood and ball ornaments are delicately balanced.

 

School: 桂古流 (Katsura Ko-ryu)
Exhibitor: 新藤華盛（Shindo Kasei）

Narcissus bulbs and river stones are carefully placed in a huge suiban.

 

School: 古流かたばみ会 (Koryu Katabamikai)
Exhibitor: 大塚理司 (Otsuka Rishi)

The branch shape and the bamboo container are eye catchers.

 

School: 大和花道 (Yamato Kado)
Exhibitor: 一松幸

This school has characteristic of dynamic branch display.  This one is particularly interesting in terms of complicated intertwined branch formation.

 

School: 大和花道 (Yamato Kado)
Exhibitor: 倉林尚佳

Spectacular display of cockscombs and flowering branches

 

with my mom at Gajoen’s lobby