History
Ohara School of Ikebana, Japan
There are two basic forms of Ikebana in the Ohara School: Moribana, which employs low, shallow containers, and Heika, which is arranged in tall cylindrical vases. Beginners must master certain basic styles in both forms by practicing these styles repeatedly with different materials. This is the best way to grasp both the unique characteristics of the materials and the methods of arranging them most beautifully.
In 1995 the Ohara School, celebrated its 100th anniversary. First Headmaster Unshin Ohara originated Moribana, the first style in the history of Ikebana to capture the essence of natural scenic beauty. Second Headmaster Koun Ohara established Moribana as a formal style and promoted Ohara Ikebana nationwide. Third Headmaster Houn Ohara imbued landscape works with strong literary and pictorial connotations, creating Bunjin and Rimpa arrangements. Fourth Headmaster Natsuki Ohara developed original forms of Ikebana, Hana-mai and Hana-isho, to suit the new environment in which people now live and work. Now led by Fifth Headmaster Hiroki Ohara, the Ohara School, with main offices in Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe, 160 chapters in Japan, 57 international chapters and 19 study groups, has nearly 130,000 teachers and over one million students throughout the world.
In 2006 the Ohara School celebrated its 111th anniversary.
Ohara School of Ikebana, International Division, 7-17 Minami Aoyama 5-chome,
Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8607, Japan, Phone: +81-3-5774-5097 Fax: +81-3-5485-1734
Email:
international@ohararyu.or.jp
Web address:
www.ohararyu.or.jp