The Secrets of Beauty

-flower in life-

The secrets of beauty

19th of Dec. 2019

Hello everyone. This is Yoshimi, a teacher of Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. There are only a few days left before this year-end. We are in busy December.

This year in Japan, the era of Reiwa began, and Japan had the enthronement ceremony and Rugby World Cup with guests from all over the world. I heard that the Japanese spirit of hospitality, tradition, and technology were highly recognized around the world. I feel very happy as a Japanese.

I believe that welcoming someone with hospitality means thinking of and caring for that person. It also seems to be the origin of the beauty peculiar to the Japanese. The elegant act of the Japanese tea ceremony, “the Way of Tea ceremony”, is breathtakingly beautiful and gives comfort and pleasure to the guests. I think, in the Japanese art of flower arrangement as well, putting water in a container or putting flowers in it is what we also need to pay attention to. Not only the arrangement itself but also the process of making an arrangement is important. When the flowers themselves are becoming too showy while being composed one by one, the arrangement would be very noisy. But if you add flowers to support the flowers you added earlier, it will be very beautiful. In the basic style, you should start by balancing the yin and yang with two kinds of flowers and give attention not to be noisy when putting the third kind of flowers.

Picture1: The tall Calla lilies stand up beautifully as if they are stretching high up in the sky. Work by Reisui, who has been taking lessons for 4 years.

The practices, called “dō” in Japanese never end. Such as shodō, “the Way of Calligraphy”, sadō, “the Way of Tea ceremony”, and kadō, “the Way of Flower arrangement”. Let’s talk with flowers, places, and

friends, exchange opinions, and enjoy. And when you also look at yourself objectively, you could find the growth in yourself making Ikebana not to mention the skill. I think traditional Japanese art and culture hold the beauty peculiar to Japanese people. I would like to be surrounded by Ikebana which lets us imagine how anyone made it and feel his or her straightforward spirit.

Thank you very much for reading this column, Flower in Life, this year. I wish you all the best in 2020.