Nihon no Hana | Bangkok Post: lifestyle

FLORALJOURNEY

The second exhibit of the Museum of Floral Culture is called "The World of Floral Culture". This takes the visitors on a magic carpet ride to the beautiful world of floral cultures. Important floral cultures of different nations flourishing in different parts of Asia _ China, Japan, Cambodia, Bali, Tibet, Laos and India _ are celebrated and put into delightful displays in the exhibition.

In the Japanese section, the show does not only exhibit the hand-written ancient Japanese scroll called "The Secret Book of Ikenobo Shoka Ikebana", dating back to 1756, it also exhibits two main characteristics of Japanese floral art. They are Tatehana, or standing flower arrangements, and Chabana, or flowers for the tea ceremony. Inspired by Tatehana, I create today's simple floral display with the help of a piece of Kenzan which is a specific device used in the Japanese art of flower-arranging that consists of a heavy lead plate with erect brass needles where the stems of plants and flowers are fixed.

I call today's floral display "Nihon no Hana", which can literally be translated as "Flowers of Japan." I use a handmade ceramic container as my flower vessel. Plant materials are the top part of the stalk of a sugarcane plant, fern foliage and a blossom of hibiscus. All plant and floral materials are found in the museum's garden.