HISTORY OF IKE-BANA 



the present form, which has a fixed rule or 

 model known as Heaven, Man, and Earth. 

 The most popular schools of today, Ike- 

 nobu, Enshiu-Ryu, Misho-Ryu, etc., adhere 

 to these principles, but there still exist in 

 Tokyo and Kyoto many masters of Ike-bana 

 who teach the simpler forms of Ko-Ryu, 

 and Ko Shin-Ryu of the Genroku and 

 Tenmei ages. They feel that the rule of 

 Heaven, Earth, and Man, too obstinately 

 adhered to, gives constraint and spoils nat- 

 uralness of arrangement. It is absolutely 

 necessary to use these fundamental prin- 

 ciples in order to achieve a well-balanced 

 arrangement, but to accentuate and exagger- 

 ate these lines is looked upon as poor taste 

 by the admirers of these more natural schools. 

 Therefore these lines must not be made so 

 strong as to obliterate the natural form of 

 the plant. 



I feel most strongly that the styles of 

 Ike-bana practical for use in the Western 

 world are those which combine the pattern 

 or rule with following the natural lines of 



[S3] 



