JAPANESE FLOWER ARRANGEMENT 



scenery. The large tree in the center repre- 

 sents distant scenery; plum or cherry blos- 

 soms middle distance, the little flowering 

 plants the foreground. The lines of these 

 arrangements were known as center and 

 sub-center. 



The art developed very slowly, and the 

 many schools now so popular did not spring 

 into existence until the end of the fifteenth 

 century. This was the awakening in Japan 

 coinciding with the Elizabethan period in 

 Europe. In this later part of the fifteenth 

 century architecture as well as art under- 

 went great reformation. As the kakimono 

 (scroll picture) and arrangement of flowers 

 were generally the only ornaments in a 

 room, it was natural indeed that the flower 

 arrangement influenced the interior decora- 

 tions, which became more simple and more 

 exquisite. 



Yoshimasa (1436- 1490), eighth Shogun of 

 the Ashikaga Dynasty and a munificent pa- 

 tron of the arts, was the greatest promoter of 

 Cha-no-yu, the ceremonial tea, and Ike-bana, 



[26] 



