Jaccc ikebana june 2014

Japanese Flower Arrangement in Los Angeles

June 2014

By rick beal

This past weekend the JACCC (Japanese American Cultural Community Center), in Downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo District, had a Japanese Flower Arrangement exhibit. The exhibit itself was not an official JACCC event, but rather the annual display of arrangements by the teachers of The Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America.

For this particular event the head instructor from the U.S. Headquarters flew down from San Francisco. Each year the event is held at a gallery near one of the area’s ikebana classes. Last year was in Torrance California, and this year at the JACCC. There are classes across the country with many Pacific Coast opportunities to view and participate in the art of flower arrangement.

Japanese flower arrangement is famous worldwide for its beautiful displays. ‘Ikebana’ literally translates from Japanese to English as ‘living flowers’. The Ikenobo school is not only one of the 5 main styles of Japanese Flower Arrangement, it was the first school of what we now call Ikebana. Ikebana comes from the practice of offering flowers on the altars in temples and homes, and has evolved to include decorations for both homes and public places that bring a sense of the sacred to any space.

This annual event by the local chapters of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America is unique in that all the displays are from the regions teachers, rather than just one from a teacher and the rest from their students as we often see. So much so, that to offer pictures of all of them would be fantastic, instead we can only offer a few examples. But each and everyone shows a sensitivity to nature and the materials being used. If you enjoy these please look for a class or exhibit near you.

Ikenobo Ikebana Los Angeles Chapter

JACCC Japanese American Cultural Community Center

Ikebana at JACCC

My teacher of Japanese Culture is Hirokazu Kosaka Sensei.
He is the Artistic Director of the JACCC (Japanese American Community & Cultural Center) in Downtown Los Angeles' Little Tokyo District.
So, of course when he has an event there, I try to attend.

This weekend we had what is now an annual Ikebana Exhibit.
This began as a 3/11 memorial event and continues as one today.

All 3 of the major schools were represented: The earliest, Ikenobo School; also the O'hara School; and the youngest of them, the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.

There was a beautiful Ceremony and offering performed by Professor Yoichi Mizutani from Ikenobo Headquarters in Kyoto.

There was a delightful welcome to Professor Mizutani and everyone from the JACCC's President & CEO, Leslie Ito. She welcomed a standing room only crowd... we kept adding more and more chairs as people continued to arrive.

I will have to say that since Ms. Ito took charge, and the gallery spaces were returned the programs at the JACCC have really come to life again.

Professor Mizutani performed an elegant ceremony; from walking in, placing the try, and having the arrangement come to life, every movement was done with great awareness and mindfulness. It reminded me of tea ceremony and all the other geido arts are really interrelated with a zen like practice. The completed piece was simple and clean and almost as beautiful as the ceremony itself.

After Professor Mizutani was finished all the guest also had the opportunity to contribute to a vase of flowers to offer as a memorial to 3/11.

I originally intended just to post my favorites of the many wonderful examples of ikebana shared at the event. But it's impossible to pick favorites with an event like this. So here are some almost random selections to end the post.

www.jaccc.org

JACCC Ikenobo Exhibit March 2014

The JACCC has a lot of little displays here and there.
From the basement is access to their garden, and a garden room for banquets and events.
A great resource for the Japanese Community in Los Angeles.

Not so hidden on one trip was these beautiful flower arrangements in the lobby window.
Ikenobo can be very modern sometimes.
These two pieces, obviously be a great arranger, have both the past, present, and future displayed.

Flower Arrangement in Pasadena

PJCI - Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute.


www.pjci.org

The PJCI - Pasadena Japanese Cutural Institute is where I spend my Saturday nights doing Kyudo - Japanese Zen Achery.

In addition to Kyudo, The PJCI has a whole variety of traditional Japanese arts. They even have Japanese Language Classes for kids and adults.

LA Arboretum - Ikebana Classes

The LA Arboretum is another beautiful garden to visit in Southern California.


http://www.arboretum.org/

One of the great reason for the Japanese Community to be involved there is that they have almost weekly Ikebana Classes.

http://www.arboretum.org/index.php/events-and-classes/details/ikebana_basic/?start_time=1391794200&end_time=1391797800

Ikebana in Los Angeles California usa

Ikebana in Los Angeles California usa

Ikebana is the art of flower arrangment. Japanese Flower arrangement is a wonderful practice. The process itself is a meditation for the individual, working with plants and nature. Then the product is shared with all who come near.