Ikebana

Over the last six hundred years ikebana has become one of Japan’s traditional art forms. It developed from the Buddhist ritual of offering flowers and over the centuries achieved the status of an art form independent of its religious origins, though it continues to have strong symbolic and philosophical overtones.

Read more about Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging, here.

The Ohara School of Ikebana

Unshin Ohara (1861-1916), the founder of the Ohara School of Ikebana, was born in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. Unshin explored the fields and mountains and tried to develop a style of ikebana to express the beauty of natural scenery. He also searched for ways to arrange the brightly colorful Western flowers that had just begun to be imported into Japan. The result of his efforts was Moribana, the first brilliant step in modern ikebana. In 1897, the first public exhibition of ikebana in the Moribana Style was held.

The Ohara School was officially founded in 1912 and led by Unshin until 1916. Read the full history of the School on the main Ohara website.

The Ottawa Chapter

The Ottawa Chapter was established in 1989 by six founding members. The Chapter encourages the tranquil art of ikebana through lessons and workshops by qualified teachers, and furthers public knowledge of ikebana through exhibition and demonstrations that are accessible to the public. Read more >