Japanese Women Teaching Floral Art In N.Z.

Press, Volume C, Issue 29682, 28 November 1961, Page 2

Japanese Women Teaching Floral Art In N.Z.

A Japanese woman has been sent to the Dominion by her government to create goodwill between her country and New Zealand. She is using flowers to achieve this end. Mrs Sosui Ono, adviser of the Sogetsu Floral Art School, believes the art of flower arranging is something one learns with the heart. ’‘We put our whole spirit and soul into the arrangements,” she said.

She finds foreigners can ieam this Japanese art just as quickly as the Japanese themselves. Among her hundreds of pupils there are many men. particularly members of the American Army. Navy and Air Force. Some men even taught 'kebana (the Japanese name or the art) themselves. One lustralian, she said, took essons at the school and was iow teaching in Australia. As yet there is no-one lualified to teach Ikebana in lew Zealand. Mrs Ono has >een giving demonstrations n Auckland and Wellington. >ut, because of pressure of ime, will not be able to come o Christchurch as originally >lanned. . She is on a six-weeks flying

visit to Australia, New Zealand and part of South-east Asia to demonstrate Ikebcna, which she has been studying for 29 years and teaching for 28. N.Z. Flowers Wjjile in New Zealand, Mrs Ono has been using New Zealand flowers she has never seen before in her demonstrations. But she is confident she can create something beautiful without knowing in advance the materials she w’orks with. “Our arrangements are so creative—we can use any materials,” she said.

The Sogetsu school was founded in 1926 as a breakaway from the traditional classical school of Japanese floral art. “The classical schools were so formal, the rules were rigid and could not be adapted to modern life. Our modern school is less formal —there is far more emphasis on the creative aspect. Life today is so changeable, we think flowers should be adaptable—they should express our emotions,” said Mrs Ono. Today there are thousands of Sogetsu teachers throughout the world, and even the old classical school in Japan has begun to teach in the modern style.