The March Chapter Meeting was very special, starting with Mr. Tetsunori Kawana’s welcome ikebana (Mukae bana) demonstration. Mr. Kawana (www.kawanaworld.com), who is a master instructor of Sogetsu Headquarters was in Seattle during our March Chapter Meeting. We were so lucky to have him.

His welcome ikebana was made with flowering apricot branches, forsythias and camellia branches in a large size vase. He told us about the origin of “welcome ikebana” placed in inns in Japan. Arrangers have to know who is staying in a room where the ikebana will be placed and what kind of people they are. Then the arrangers would go to the mountains to find the appropriate materials for the guests. For instance, if a couple is on their honeymoon, the arranger will make the ikebana with buds on branches that symbolize lots of children. Guests would be able to take the flower materials home when they leave the inn.

He also emphasized that the importance of being an ikebana artist is to keep in mind that we are dealing with fresh, living materials. “Ikeru (alive, to live, to create)” which “Ikebana” comes from, means that using cut plant materials and putting them in a container and reviving them again to inspire the viewers as an art form, and not a designed craft. Also, he told us to respect fresh materials we use in making ikebana.