The Historical Development Of Ikebana

Abstract

This article is an attempt to focus on the origin of ikebana, tatehana (standing branch or flower) style and to examine the process of the historical development of ikebana. First, we pay attention to the fact that the treetop of a big tree is brought into the house and is put up in a flower vase and decorated in the tokonoma (wall niche) even today after having been cut in the rituals of the mountain divinity, then we will examine what kind of effect the belief in big trees had on the formalization of tatehana style, established in the Muromachi period (1338–1573). We will examine how the tatehana style was formalized, how the tatehana style developed into rikka (standing branch or flower) style, established in the early Edo period (17th century), how seika or shoka (standing branch or flower) style in the latter part of Edo period (18th century) evolved from rikka style through the historical development of ikebana. Finally, we will conclude that this is ikebana