LIFE / Lifestyle / Kateigaho International Japan Edition

The joys of spring: Treasures from the Sogetsu Collection

The Sogetsu school of ikebana was founded over 90 years ago to encourage a more liberated approach to the Japanese art of flower arranging. Through their collaborations with artists in many fields, successive heads of the school have accumulated the precious works that now constitute the Sogetsu Collection. Here, Akane Teshigahara, the fourth head of the school, has matched selected items from the collection with flower arrangements celebrating the arrival of spring

Feb 15, 2020

Sogetsu Ikebana was born of a desire to encourage the expression of individual creativity through innovative flower arrangement, without the constraints of following rigid patterns. The core belief of school founder Sofu Teshigahara was that when arranged, "flowers become human," taking on the spirit and personality of their arranger. More than 90 years on, his commitment to free and open expression has been faithfully passed down by his successors, winning enthusiastic followers around the globe.

Subsequent leaders of Sogetsu have followed Sofu's example of seeking inspiration through frequent collaborations with artists of all genres. They have also tried their own hand at art forms besides ikebana — pottery, calligraphy, stage directing and more. The third head of Sogetsu, Hiroshi Teshigahara, had some success as a film director.