Chisato Motoi on the Visual

Principles of Sogetsu Ikebana

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Introducing Sogetsu Ikebana

Ikebana, or traditional Japanese flower arrangement, is a disciplined art form that emphasizes the synthesis of nature and humanity. Sogetsu is a more abstract and experimental branch of ikebana founded by Sofu Teshigawara in 1927. The driving belief behind sogetsu is that once the basic creative and visual principles are learned and understood, they should be expanded to the practitioners’ lives anywhere, anytime, and with any media. Chisato Motoi, a practitioner of sogetsu ikebana, elaborates on the underlying visual rules behind the art of sogetsu.

Ikebana’s Guiding Principles

Ikebana has four guiding principles: freshness, motion, harmony, and balance. The primary visual elements that are used to illustrate these principles are line, color, and mass. These principles are expressed using these design elements in three main lines: Shin (Heaven): the tallest, most central stem Soc (Man) Hikae (Earth)

Both soc and hikae should be visually subordinate to shin. Also jushi are often used, which are filler branches or blooms that can be attached to the three main lines.

Variations of Sogetsu Styles

Sogetsu is practiced with variations on two basic styles: upright and slanting. Either of these styles can be executed in moribana, which means “piled-up flowers,” or in nageire, which is translated as “thrown-in,” resulting in slightly varied versions of the same visual theme.