The Ikenobo Ikebana First Arrangement Ceremony, which celebrates the New Year, was held on January 5, 2025 at the Ikenobo Ikebana Dojo in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City. About 800 students aged 9 to 98 from all over Japan gathered to arrange flowers, pledging to work hard for the year.
At the Ikenobo Dojo, 34 young men and women dressed in furisode and haori hakama, visited Rokkakudo, and then arranged their first arrangement. They combined pine and plum blossoms with roses and tulips, and completed their refreshing arrangements that are perfect for the New Year, with the sound of scissors echoing around.
The next Ikenobo Ikebana master, Senko Ikenobo, looked around, encouraging each student to "make sure it's not too cramped" and "lean the willow a little further back." Mameyae (26 years old), a geisha from Pontocho, arranged a gorgeous rose as the main focus and a graceful red-eyed willow, saying, "I want to work hard so I can improve in the arts as well."
The next head of the school, Senko, who serves as vice-president of the Japan Association for the International Exposition, which is organizing the Osaka-Kansai Expo, arranged a standing flower arrangement entitled "Yorozu (All Things)." In addition to traditional flower materials such as the Japanese pine, plum and weeping willow, he expressed the theme colours of the Expo with the red berries of the Christmas berry and the blue of the delphinium, expressing his wish that "in these times of chaos, I hope that people will be able to feel the beauty and spirit of Japan through flowers. I hope that we can all move forward with renewed spirit towards a future in which all life shines."
