Eng 
日本語 
Ikebana (the art of flower arrangement) is very well known as one of the traditions of Japanese culture.
Have you ever experienced it?
There are many ikebana schools, but among them, the most famous one overseas is the Sogetsu school of flower arrangement.
We at Coto Japanese Academy would love for everybody to enjoy Japanese culture during the beautiful autumn season of the so we held an “Ikebana Workshop” at the “betsuma” (or special room) in “Kantokutei,” located within the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, with the cooperation of Professor Kobo Miyazaki, from the Sogetsu Teachers Association Board of Directors.
This time we received many more applications than the maximum number of participants, and we had many men take part in the workshop too. Ikebana has a strongly feminine image, but the founder of the Sogetsu school is actually a man. The message from the instructor, saying that she would be happy if people would just show interest in flower arrangement, may have gotten to them.
Now, when doing flower arrangement, it is important to create a space for it. This time we learned the basic shape, which consists of three lines.
We cut the branches and stems one by one following the basics regarding length and angle that we just learned, and taking the sample that the instructor made as a reference. Then we stuck the rest of the branches in taking into account the space: asymmetry, depth and width, height, etc… The serious look on everybody’s face was impressive.
The instructor kindly commented and offered advice on each of the arrangements as they came to their final shape. We hope that everybody was satisfied with their work!
After a break, we enjoyed the colored leaves while taking a walk in the Korakuen Garden.
Korakuen is one of the most distinguished Japanese style gardens in Tokyo, so there were many tourists.
The workshop was a great success. From here, we would like to express our gratitude to Ms. Kobo Miyazaki, who took the role of instructor, and Mr./Ms. Ookami, the organizer. Thank you very much!
Our next event will be the year-end party to be held on December 14th (Sat.)
We are looking forward to seeing all of our students at this party, which will be our last big event of the year.
(日本語の記事はギャラリーの下をご覧ください）
日本の伝統文化のひとつとしてよく知られている生け花。
みなさんは体験したことがありますか？
生け花にはいろいろな流派があり、その中でも海外で最もよく知られているのが草月流という流派です。
今回Cotoでは紅葉の美しい時期に合わせて日本文化を楽しんでもらいたいと思い、草月流師範会理事の宮崎虹芳先生のご協力をいただき、小石川後楽園内の涵徳亭の別間にて生け花ワークショップを行いました。
今回は定員を越える参加者の方の申込があり、男性の参加者が多くいらっしゃいました。生け花というと女性のイメージが強いのですが草月流の創始者の方も男性なのです。男性にも興味を持ってもらえたらうれしいという先生のメッセージが伝わったのかもしれませんね。
さて、生け花は空間を作るのが大切。今回は三つの線からなる基本形を学びました。
先生の作ったお手本を見ながら、長さ、角度、など習った基本をもとにいっぽんいっぽんの枝や茎にはさみを入れていきます。非対称、奥行きや幅、高さなど、空間を考えながら他の枝をさしていきます。皆さんの真剣な表情が印象的でした。
それぞれの作品に先生が丁寧にコメントとアドバイスをくださり、作品ができあがりました。みなさん満足の行く作品になりましたでしょうか。
一休みしたあとは後楽園の庭園を散歩しながら、美しい紅葉を楽しみました。
後楽園は東京でも有数の日本庭園ということで、たくさんの観光客の方がいらしていましたね。
大好評のワークショップ。講師をつとめてくださった宮崎虹芳先生、オーガナイザーの大上さん、どうもありがとうございました。
次回イベントは12月14日（土）の忘年会となります。
今年最後のビッグイベントとしてたくさんの皆さんにお会いできるのを楽しみにしています。
