IKENOBO

oldest school of floral art in Japan; the term Ikenobo later came to be used loosely to describe any classical Japanese flower arrangement. The Ikenobo (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-do, a small temple in what was to become Kyoto. 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, shoka style evolved. Ikenobo arrangements are divided into shin (formal), gyo (semi-formal), and so (informal).