Who was the first practitioner of Japanese Ikebana?
Ikebana, the complex art of Japanese floral arrangement, takes easily a decade to master. There are as many schools of ikebana as there are floral varieties and spatial relations, symbolism, and the contemplation encouraged by white space are paramount. If you’re wondering what philosophy and spirituality have to do with flower arrangement, take note. Ikebana which began in the sixth century with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan is rooted firmly in religion. Its first practitioner was a monk who wanted to refine the presentation of the floral offering on his shrine in a way that symbolized man’s relationship to heaven and earth. In the 6th Century, Ono no Imoko paid three official visits to the imperial court of China. After his retirement he was appointed guardian of Rokkaku-do, a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, where he became abbot and changed his name to Semmu. In China he had studied arranging flowers as religious offerings, and in retirement he continued to develop his stud
