Ikebana displayed at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show 2023

The Seattle Japanese Garden would like to introduce the Way of Flowers: Ikebana flower arrangement. A Sogetsu flower school teacher, Nobuko Relnick from the Ikebana International Seattle Chapter 19 will show us the way of Ikebana at the Tateuchi community room in the garden.

This demonstration will show you how to arrange flowers in the Sogetsu style, following the Japanese way of bringing them to life, outside of the garden. The demonstration will start at 4:30pm on June 1st. Come and enjoy the beautiful Japanese Ikebana arrangement.

What is Ikebana?

Ikebana is Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as Kado, way of flowers. In Ikebana, blossoms, branches, leaves, and stems are arranged for artmaking. Ikebana aims to bring out the inner quality of flowers and other materials and express emotion. Ikebana is counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts along with Kodo for incense appreciation and Chado for tea ceremony.

The Ikebana tradition started in Heian Period (794 - 1185) as floral offerings at altars. In the 16th century under the influence of Buddhist tea masters, Ikebana reached its first zenith. Since then, it has grown over with numerous Ikebana schools today. Learn more about the history of Ikebana at https://www.sogetsu.or.jp/e/columns/19842/

Instructor: Nobuko Relnick

You may know her from the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival, Nobuko Relnick is a very well-known Sogetsu teacher in Seattle. Since she received the first teacher’s certificate from the Sogetsu Ikebana Headquarters in Tokyo in 1966, she has been teaching Ikebana for over 50 years. Now she holds the highest teacher’s certificate from the headquarters in Japan. She operates her Woodinville Studio and teaches Sogetsu-style flower arrangement to her students in the Seattle and its surrounding area.

Received the first teacher’s certificate from the Sogetsu Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan in 1966.
Received the highest teacher’s certificate from Sogetsu Headquarters in Japan, in 1996.
Has been a member of Ikebana International Tokyo Founding Chapter from 1988 to 1998.
Taught Ikebana to the faculty and parents of the American School in Japan from 1977 to 1998.
Opened ‘Woodinville Sogetsu’ studio to teach Ikebana after moving from Tokyo, Japan in 1998.

Sogetsu School of Ikebana

Just as paintings are artistic expressions brushed onto canvas, Ikebana is a three-dimensional artistic expression composed of flowers and plants.

Our Ikebana school founder, Sofu Teshigahara, believed that Ikebana should be considered part of a lifestyle to be appreciated the world over, rather than an exclusive aspect of Japanese culture to be enjoyed by only a few.

The basic techniques of Sogetsu Ikebana are taught throughout the world. Because people are different from each other, the Sogetsu School encourages students to be individual and imaginative. Regardless of the arrangement style, however, students are taught to always pay respect to relationships such as space, line, depth, movement, color, form and balance.

It is up to the aesthetic awareness of the Ikebana arranger to assemble the materials, choose their most beautiful aspects, order them and endow them with a value transcending that which they had in nature.

Arranging Ikebana begins with careful observation of the plant materials. Human hands express beauty with the help of nature. Our school especially emphasizes Ikebana to be made with any plant materials, to be placed anywhere and to be arranged with any containers.

Our ikebana arrangements are intended to bring beauty and discovery into the lives of those who create them and into the lives of those who view them as well.

About Ikebana International and Sogetsu school

Ikebana International is the world-wide organization consisting of people who love Japanese floral arrangements . Chapter 19 in Seattle includes about 10 various types of schools, some classic and some modern. Please refer to: www.iiseattlechapter19.org

Entry to the garden is FREE a whole day from noon to closing for Free First Thursday.

Ikebana Demonstration: Sogetsu Style -- by Nobuko Relnick