Ikenobo, the Origin of Ikebana, held the Autumn Tanabata Exhibition from November 12th to 17th. The exhibition featured over 950 ikebana works spread across the event period.
Next year in Kyoto will mark 400 years since the Emperor Gomizunoo visited Nijo Castle with his grand imperial procession, and Ikenobo has gathered attention since that day in the Kan’ei Era. Our Tanabata Exhibition has its roots in the “Tanabata Rikka-e” (Star Festival Rikka Gathering) that Emperor Gomizunoo held in the Imperial Palace, and Ikenobo has protected the tradition of “Rikka” that embodied the Kan’ei Era since then.
This year we returned to those beginnings by forgoing a theme and holding a formal and traditional floral exhibition.
This year, as before, we held our exhibition from November 12th to November 17th on the 6th floor of the Daimaru Kyoto Store in the “Daimaru Museum,” and from November 14th to 17th at Ikenobo Headquarters.
The opening ceremony was held on the first day at Daimaru Forty-fifth where Headmaster Sen’ei Ikenobo, Headmaster Designate Senko Ikenobo, Secretary General Masafumi Ikenobo, Mrs. Mika Ikenobo, and Youth Association Representative Senshu Ikenobo welcomed Mr. Goro Matsumoto, the General Manager of the Daimaru Kyoto Store, as an honored guest. The ceremony included speeches by the Secretary General and Mr. Matsumoto. After the ceremony’s conclusion, they inspected all of the works on display.
The Daimaru exhibition space was laid out so that you could see the whole exhibition after passing under the purple curtain with the Tachibana crest at the entrance.
➤Works by the Ikenobo Family Displayed in Daimaru
The Headmaster used 400 year old weeping cherry branches, pine, and more to create a Rikka Shofutai work in a display space 4.5 meters wide to the theme of “Cherry Blossoms Waiting for Spring.” He said of the work, “I expressed cherry blossoms waiting for spring in the way that old branches that have completed their function can come back to life.”
The Headmaster Designate made a large Free Style work using many cotton flowers spread over a black background with strings connecting the flowers from left to right. She spoke of the work reflecting on her experience as a Deputy Chairperson of the Osaka, Kansai Expo. “From the Expo, we understood that we all live amidst connections. I created this work with the wish that those fateful connections would continue on.”
The Youth Association Representative displayed his ikebana work made using casual flora in a striking white space filled with many sheets of Japanese paper hung from the ceiling. Over the course of the exhibition, he remade the work three times using different floral materials.
➤Opening Ceremony of the Headquarters Exhibition
The Ikenobo Headquarters portion of the exhibition started on the 14th with the opening ceremony beginning at 9:00. The ceremony featured remarks from the Headmaster Designate, as well as Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Shunichi Tokura, Kyoto Prefectural Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki, and Kyoto City Mayor Koji Matsui as honored guests. In her speech the Headmaster Designate said, “It is my hope that with this exhibition ikebana will be some small help for many people to think on the joy of arranging flowers, the importance of contemplating life, and the meaning of encounters between people.”
After the speeches, the Headmaster, Headmaster Designate, and honored guests performed a ribbon cutting ceremony.
➤Ikenobo Family Works on Display in the Headquarters Dojo
The Iemoto Dojo at Headquarters featured not only works of the Headmaster, the Headmaster Designate, Mrs. Mika Ikenobo, and the Youth Association Representative, but also works from Professors Emeritus, Professors and Lecturers of the Central Institute of Ikebana, honored elder practitioners of Ikenobo, and members of the Ikenobo Society of Floral Art Governing Committee.
The Headmaster’s work for the first exhibition period was a Shoka Shimputai work using Laelia orchid, Tamarix, and Euonymus sieboldianus with a hanging scroll featuring his calligraphy and art titled “Shusei” (autumn voice) displayed behind it.
The Headmaster Designate’s Rikka Shimputai works used Adina pilulifera, nandina, heliconia, and more in the first period, followed by Eleutherococcus, European privet, chrysanthemums and more in the second period.
Mrs. Mika Ikenobo’s Shoka Shimputai works used Sorghum halepense, laelia orchid, and bulrush in the first period, followed by black leaf and orchid for the second period.
The Youth Association Representative’s ikebana works used privet, forsythia, Eupatorium Japonicum, and more in the first period, followed by smoke tree and winter cosmos in the second period.
The first floor of the Dojo held the display spaces for the professors emeritus, the Central Institute teaching faculty, and those who were selected to display their work. The second floor held spaces for Professors, the Guest Professor, and those invited to display their work. The teaching faculty provided written explanations of their works’ individual themes.
➤The Exhibition, Floor by Floor
Nine of the teaching faculty, including Professors, Assistant Professors, and Instructors, specially displayed Shoka works using narcissus on the eighth floor, which acted as the entrance to exhibit. Floors seven, five, and four were for works by individuals and chapters. The sixth floor held works by the Assistant Instructors, Special Contract Professor, and selected students from the Advanced Courses of the Central Institute.
For the first half of the Ikenobo Headquarters exhibition, the fourth and fifth floors held the works of both individuals and chapters that participated in the National Ikebana Tournament, including the winning individuals and chapters. There was also a display of works by students of the Ikenobo Junior College and Ikenobo Nursery School on the first floor of the West 18 building.
➤Youth Association Members Decorate the Temple Grounds
The Youth Association displayed group works around the Rokkakudo Temple grounds on November 15th and 16th.
Youth Association Group Project Report
➤ Hana no Koshien National Tournament
The 16th also marked the 2025 Hana no Koshien National Tournament. The 13 teams that won their respective regional tournaments came to compete to be the number one high school ikebana club in Japan. The theme this year was “Arrange Life,” and the teams competed by making works that expressed the charms of their regions or works that held their love for friends and family. The winning team was from Gifu Prefectural Commercial High School, the runner up was Kurume Industrial High School and Vocational School, and third place was Yasuda Girls High School.
➤Historical Museum Special Exhibit
From the 14th to 17th, the Ikebana Historical Museum held the “Yukei, The World of Rikka —Chapter 2: Arranging in a Sunabachi—” Special Exhibition. For the exhibition, Professor Extraordinary Yukei Miura displayed 56 items from his personal collection of historical Edo Period sunabachi containers. In one of the containers, he also composed a futakabu sunanomono arrangement for display. Professor Miura also gave guided explanations of the exhibit during the display period.
During the Exhibition we were happy to welcome a great many visitors to both venues.
Thank you all for coming.
※The Autumn Tanabata Exhibition of 2026 will be held from November 11th to 16th, 2026.