California Flower Art Academy

If you are interested in learning Japanese traditional floral arrangement called “Ikebana”, we help you acquire practical skills by way of hands on training. The way Ikebana  is arranged is somewhat different from that of regular kind of flower arrangements.  Ikebana uses what is called “Kenzan” which is also known as needlepoint holder made of metal which is heavy enough to hold flowers and flower stems. This needlepoint holder has uncountable number of needles on the surface. When floral designers arranges flowers, they insert flower stems onto those needles. This is totally different from a regular kind of flower arrangement which uses OASIS made from chemical stuff and looks like sponge. The weight of OASIS is very light unlike Kenzan and this stuff is disposable again unlike Kenzan (needlepoint holder).

Since OASIS is much easier to use than KENZAN, it takes less time to do regular flower arrangement. PLUS Ikebana requires very precise way of decoration which involves more time and energy. In this sense Ikebana is not recommended for the situation where they need so many designs/decorations at the same time. Regular flower arrangement is much more recommended in this kind of situation. Further if the decoration is so big like the one displayed in the entrance hall of hotels etc., Ikebana is said not to fit such decoration.

In terms of above mentioned reasons, Ikebana is seldom used for wedding or funeral decoration not only in the USA but also even in Japan.  On top of that, Ikebana related fees are so expensive such as tuitions, examination fee and certificate fee  etc etc. Further Ikebana used to be one of typical Japanese manners which should be mastered by young ladies who are not yet married. Parents usually provided daughters with trainings of Ikebana arrangement in the hope that they can make interior floral decorations after getting married.  When they take lesson of Ikebana, they were usually required to learn in a strict manner and to strictly  follow directions from instructors who were usually almighty against their students. Some people say this used to be very fuedalistic in a sense (This used to be typical relationships between a teacher and a student not only regarding Ikebana but also any kind of educations. Nowadays it is very changed because everything has been affected by American culture.

At the moment, Ikebana is not very popular in Japan especially among young ladies who prefer regular kind of flower arrangement which is European or American style of floral decorations. The reason behind this situation is seemingly because they do not like “fuedalistic relationship between teachers and students, they prefer less expensive (affordable ) floral designing (tuition and certificate fee) , they like easy way of arrangement AND they would like to learn floral decorations which can be easily used for doing business such as wedding decorations as well as daily interior decorations.

Regarding the skills and techniques, people who were well trained in Ikebana arrangement can very quickly catch up with skills of regular flower arrangements even though there are several differences as stated in the above.  The chief instructor of California Flower Art Academy got a long term training of Ikebana and she has an official certification of Ikebana Instructor authorized in Japan. Plus she has a license of the first class floral decorator also  certified  in Japan. Therefore we can offer lessons not only European style of floral designs but also Japanese Ikebana arrangements as well.

If you are interested in learning Ikebana, we help you earn practical skills by way of hands on training of person to person instructions at affordable prices.  At the moment, we offer follwoing Ikebana courses:

A. Ikebana Arrangement Elementary Course (7 designs: one design: 60-90 minutes)………$210

B. Ikebana Arrangement Intermediate Course (7 designs: one design: 60-90 minutes)…….$245

For further information, please email to info@california-academy.com We help you make a difference in floral art.