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Spring Fashion

Schools & Teachers

Learn more about the history & tradition of Ikebana, and find a teacher near you for lessons, weddings, private classes and more.

Ichiyo School

Founded in 1937, Ichiyo School, while respecting the ancient traditions of ikebana, has contributed innovations such as crossing lines, balancing floral materials and containers without the use of a kenzan, and creating large-scale stage productions. Arrangements are intended to arouse our senses in a different way from traditional ikebana, giving the viewer an experience with nature that is unexpected, stimulating and profound.

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For more information about the Ichiyo School, click here

School- Ichiyo school photo by Akihiro K

Ohara School

Traditional — yet trend-setting!

Founder Unshin Ohara sought to capture nature’s beauty, showing the changing of seasons, and the harmony of natural materials.   In a radical step for 1912, he presented his Landscape arrangements in shallow containers, featuring new flowers from the West. 

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Additionally, the art of Chinese scholars and the folding screens of the Edo period inspired eloquent  and picturesque arrangements —what Ohara is known for. Now, current Headmaster Hiroki Ohara has again broken barriers with his playful crossed-stems  style. 

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For more information about the Ohara School, click here. For more informationabout the Ohara School New York Chapter, click here

 

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Souami School

Souami School was founded by Shinso Souami, whose most  famous garden design is the world heritage Stone Garden of Ryoan-Ji in Kyoto.

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To keep this style of Ikebana art as pure as possible,  Souami had instructed all disciples not to commercialize this art form.  The current headmaster,  Yokochi Gahou, is a renowned oil painter in Tokyo. 

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For more information about the Souami School, click here

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Ikenobo School

The origin of Ikebana; 560 years of history encompassing styles from the most traditional (like Rikka, Shoka) to ultra modern free styles.

 

Ikenobo emphasizes space, line beauty, movement utilizing all phases of the plant -- blossoms, buds, branches bent by wind, leaves half eaten by bugs, seed pods and more -- to show their inherent characteristics and life.

 

For more information about the Ikenobo School, click here

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Sogetsu School

"Anytime, Anywhere, Anything, by Anyone" 

-Headmaster Akane Teshigahara

 

An avant garde style founded in Tokyo where  “Flowers become human,"  according to Founder Sofu Teshigahara, 1927. 

 

120 branches in 38 countries.  Not restricted by fixed styles and allows free expression.

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For more information about the New York Sogetsu School, click here.

 

For the Sogetsu School in Japan, learn more here

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Teachers

Meet Our Ikebana Teachers

Click to find a teacher from one of the schools below, or scroll through to discover our tri-state area Ikebana teachers.
Ichiyo    |    Ikenobo    |    Ohara    |    Sogetsu    |    Souami

Ichiyo School

Kaya Abe

School: Ichiyo

Location: NJ, NYC, Upstate NY-Catskills

Instruction: Weekly classes on Thu 1-3pm in Cliffside Park, NJ

Sandra Neilsen

School: Ichiyo

Ichiyo Instructor
Ikenobo Instructor

Ikenobo School

Carol Wang

Carol Wang

School: Ikenobo

Location: Flushing, NY

Instruction: Weekly classes at Culture Center of Taipei Economy and Cultural Office in New York

Paula Tam

Paula Tam

School: Ikenobo

Location: Manhattan NY (Upper & Lower East Side), Flushing, NY

Instruction: Weekly group and private classes

Noritake Noda

Noritake Noda

School: Ikenobo

Location: New York City

Instruction: Classes in NYC

email  website

Yuki  Ishizuka

Yuki Ishizuka

School: Ikenobo

Location: New York City

         

Ohara Intructors

Ohara School

Asae Takahashi

School: Ohara

Location: New York City

Instruction: Classes in NYC

Sogetsu School

Sogetsu
Anne Lise Whitescarvar

Anne Lise Whitescarvar

School: Sogetsu

Location: Golden Valley, Minneapolis, MN

Instruction: Classes for all levels on Thursdays

Debbie Kopinski

Debbie Kopinski

School: Sogetsu

Location: Tribeca, NYC & Amagansett, NY

Instruction: Small classes in both locations at flexible times

Judy Hata

Judy Hata

School: Sogetsu

Location: Westchester/Pound Ridge, NY, Mainline PA, Capital District NY

Instruction: All levels

Mari Steinman

Mari Steinman

School: Sogetsu

Location: Manhattan, NY and NJ

Instruction: Private lessons by appointment

Roxane Wasserman

Roxane Wasserman

School: Sogetsu

Location: New York

        

Shoko Iwata

Shoko Iwata

School: Sogetsu

Location: South Salem, NY

Instruction: Personal & small group classes; Thursdays & Fridays

Christine Donck-Guelton

Christine Donck-Guelton

School: Sogetsu

Location: New York City

Instruction: Weekly group classes

Hazue Tamura

Hazue Tamura

School: Sogetsu

Location: New York City & Ancramdale, NY

       

Kaye Vosburgh

Kaye Vosburgh

School: Sogetsu

Location: Newtown, MA

Instruction: Small classes for all levels on Zoom

Maye Smith Beauchamp

Maye Smith Beauchamp

School: Sogetsu

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Instruction: Saturdays, 10:30am - 1:30pm

Shizue Pleasanton

Shizue Pleasanton

School: Sogetsu

Location: New Canaan, CT

Instruction: Wednesdays, 10am-12pm. Silvermine School of Art (New Canaan, CT)

Yoko Ikura

Yoko Ikura

School: Sogetsu

Location: Holmdel, NJ

Instruction: Friday morning classes in Holmdel, NJ

Souami School

Mei C. Yao

School: Souami

Location: Armonk, NY

Instruction: Meditative Ikebana in Classical Souami Style, 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month

Souami Insructors
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