Hana Tsutsumi Arrangement

Today I made a hana tsutsumi arrangement using blue, red, white and violet colors. Enjoy!

The Joy of Hana Tsutsumi

Hana Tsutsumi using paper roses and dried baby's breath

my first hana tsutsumi project

Materials for hana tsutsumi, colored paper

When we think of flower arrangements and Japan we think only of ikebana, however, there is another extraordinarily beautiful way of arranging flowers the Japanese way: the Hana Tsutsumi. The Hana Tsutsumi is the wrapping of flowers in colorful paper. There is some evidence that the establishment of ikebana and hana tsutsumi is established at the same time. The first written mention of wrapping flowers is found in the Sendosho, a book which dates back from 1445 and is said to be the oldest book of ikebana in Japan. But even before the Sendosho flower wrapping has existed in Japan. There is a close affinity between origami and hana tsutsumi in fact hana tsutsumi is origami that aims to present flowers in the best angles possible. In Hana tsutsumi bright and colorful paper is used to complement the colors of flowers. In the Edo period when the wealth of the ordinary people, the townspeople, flourished, the practice of giving flowers as gifts flourished along with urban culture. A book on flower wrapping appeared in the early Edo period: the Nageire Kadensho. There is little difference between flower wrapping of this period and of the earlier Sendensho based on the illustrations. The middle of the Edo Period saw the flourish of hana tsutsumi. In the middle of the Edo period, two well known school of etiquette, the Ise and Ogasawara schools, formulated, their own rules for wrapping items, including flowers in paper. Illustrations showing flower wrapping began to become common in many ikebana texts.

To be specific the paper hana tsutsumi is wrapped in is called washi which was tied with mizuhiki. Mizuhiki translates to stiff paper string. In traditional hana tsutsumi, the style of wrapping depends on the kinds of flowers used but Kirara hana tsutsumi is more flexible and can be apllied to various kinds of flowers. With Kirara hana tsutsumi, we use special flower containers to arrange the flowers. Articles easily found at home can be used as substitutes, but once these special containers have been used you’ll find that these items are much more suitable for arranging flowers than ordinary vases. A distinctive quality of kirara hana tsutsumi is that the flowers arranged in this manner and given as gifts can be displayted as received, in the original wrapping. The art thus requires that the gift-giver learn how to arrange the various style of flower wrapping.

I have experimented with the kirara hana tsutsumi using an ordinary glass and some gold colored gift paper bought from national bookstore and ended up with these. I will be experimenting more on the hana tsutsumi style of flower arrangement and I’ll be posting updates soon. In the meantime this is my very first hana tsutsumi project.

The Willpower of Plants

Last March the Ikebana Ikenobo Society of Manila held a workshop and exhibit at the Power Plant Mall. Our visiting professor was Mr. Manabu Noda from Ikebana headquarters in Osaka, Japan. The Ikenobo school of Ikebana is the oldest school of Ikebana and it strictly uses fresh and live plant materials in the arrangement, meaning no dead twigs or other non living object is to be found in an Ikenobo arrangement. In his lectures it became evident to us as students of Ikebana Ikenobo to respect and to be sensitive to the orientation of our materials. The form and shape of flowers has its own unspoken willpower which we must recognize in arranging beautiful and symmetrical ikebana arrangements. During the three day lecture we learned about the very intricate and difficult Rikka shofutai. The Rikka shofutai is the most classical of Ikenobo arrangements and it has very distinct parts the main focus of which is equilibrium. It has been used as offerings in Buddhist temple since medieval Japan.

For my own exhibit piece with the assistance of our professor I used a Rikka Shimputai arrangement. The rikka shimputai is composed of the “Shu” the main or the most beautiful material in this case the purple flower. The “yo” the material that responds to the “shu” to emphasize the beauty of the “shu” and the “ashirai” which is material used to enhance space.

Mr. Manabu Noda is very helpful to his students his style of teaching is one on one. He would criticize each of the students works pointing out flaws and rearranging each flower arrangement to best suit the eye. On the third day of the workshop plaques of commendations were given to the students plus an ikebana ikenobo pin and a wine flask to be used in the exhibit in the Power Plant Mall.

The exhibit had been very successful the three day workshop was capped with an exhibit in Power Plant Mall. Dulce sang the opening national anthem song and she also sang a medley of famous ballads to entertain the guests. Noel Cabangon noted tenor from the UP Conservatory of music likewise did renditions of songs. The wife of the Ambassador of Japan was also in attendance. Mr. Serapion Metilla, ikebana professor likewise did and intermission. He arranged a giant ikenobo arrangement while children danced to the tune of “Paraiso”. The intermission ended with Mr. Metilla releasing a butterfly in the air. After the ceremonies there were cocktails and grape juice was superfluously given to everyone to offer a toast to the Ikebana Ikenobo Organization. Thereafter cocktails were served and guests and members alike chatted with each other. It was a very warm and friendly event. After cocktails, Mr. Metilla called on all the members to pose for a group picture for the Manila Bulletin and other print media present. During the three day exhibit in powerplant mall the students together with Mr. Serapion Metilla held demonstration of ikebana arrangements for the benefit of the public. This was free for all.