Japanese flower arrangement/Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THE SCHOOLS OF JAPANESE
FLOWER ARRANGEMENT
I. Ikenobu. 700 a.d.
Ikenobu was commenced by Ono-no-Imoko about thirteen hundred years ago. This is the oldest and, to my thinking, one of the most beautiful of all the schools.
The first Ikenobu was a pupil of Soami. Since then the teacher of this school is always a priest of the Rokkakudo Temple in Kyoto, where the lore has been handed down from generation to generation and is still being taught in exactly the same manner. The priest on whom the mantle of instruction falls is always called Ikenobu.
I never enjoyed my lessons more than at the Rokkakudo Temple. There at the temple you arrange your flowers under the guidance of other priests, but when the compositions of the class are nearing completion, Ikenobu himself appears, to give the final verdict on every arrangement. After much bowing and drawing in of the breath, the entire class follows him about, stopping with him before each arrangement, in order to profit by the criticisms on the work of every pupil in the class. If you prefer, an instructor will be sent from the temple to your own residence, but he, of course, will be an understudy and no one so important as Ikenobu himself.
This school is a development of Rikkwa, and its branches include the schools of
| Higashiyama-Ryu | Senki-Ryu |
| Enshiu-Ryu | Seizan-Ryu |
| Misho-Ryu | |
II. Shōgetsudo Ko-Ryu.
Originated by Myoye Shonin. 1171–1231.
III. Ko-Ryu.
Originated by Ōun Hoshi or Matsune Ishiro. 1333–1402.
IV. Higashiyama Jishō-in-Ryu
Originated by Ashikaga Yoshimasa, 1436–1492, who was called Higashiyama Dono or Jishoin. Branches of this school are
| Senzan-Ryu | Higashiyama-Ko-Sei-Ryu |
| Higashiyama-Ryu | Soami-Ryu |
V. Senke-Ko-Ryu.
Originated by the famous Sen-no-Rikyu. 1520.
VI. Bisho-Ryu.
Originated by Goto Daigakunokami or Bishokui Dokaku. 1545.
VII. Enshiu-Ryu.
Originated by Kobori-Enshu. 1578–1647.
The branches of this school are numerous:
| Nihonbashi Enshiu | Shin Enshiu |
| Ango Enshiu | Miyako Enshiu |
| Seifu Enshiu | Asakusa Enshiu |
VIII. Ko-Shin-Ryu.
Originated by Shin-tetsu-sai, who was the teacher of Hidetada, second Shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty. 1600–1624.
IX. Sekishu-Ryu.
Originated by Katagiri Iwaminokami Sadamasa. 1604–1673.
X. Jikei-Ryu.
Originated by Shōuken Jikei in the year 1699.
XI. Tōgen-Ryu.
Commenced by Togensai Masayasu about 1716.
| Sōgensai | Murakumo-Ryu |
| Tōko-Ryu | Shikishima-Ryu |
| Dōnin-Ryu | |
XII. Gengi-Ryu.
Commenced by Chiba Ryōboku in the year 1772.
XIII. Mishō-Ryu.
Originated by Mishosai Koho. 1804–1861.
XIV. Sei-Ryu.
Commenced by Dōseiken Ittoku in 1818.
XV. Shōko-Ryu.
Commenced by Hakusuisai in the year 1896.
There is much controversy among these different schools as to their relative antiquity, but the above dates are those most generally accepted. For any inaccuracy of dates, due to the difficulties of translation from the Japanese chronology, I ask leniency.
