"A SEINEN PRODUCTIONS FILM" "IKEBANA" "Cinematography by SUSUMU URASHIMA Lighting by MITSUGORO TANAKA" "Sound by TETSUYA OHASHI Music by KATSUTOSHI NAGAZAWA" "Sound Effects by MATSUO ONO Edited by MIYURI MIYAMORI" "Narrated by TOMOKO NARAOKA" "Special thanks to SOFU TESHIGAHARA" "Rikka Flower Arrangement by SENKEI KUWAHARA" "Directed by HIROSHI TESHIGAHARA" "The love of flowers has persisted  from the past to the present day." ""A large blue vase at the base of the handrail." ""Take twigs of cherry blossom some five feet long" ""and place a great many of them therein."" "These words are from The Pillow Book, by Sei Shonagon." "The pleasures of flower arrangement date back over a thousand years." "The art was first formalized as 'ikebana' some 500 years ago, during the Muromachi era." "Ikebana was created by a group of famous artists  surrounding the shogun at the time, Yoshimasa Ashikaga." "It is said that court artists such as Ritsuami and Bunami  and Buddhist priests at Kyoto's Rokkakudo Temple  were extremely skilled at flower arrangement." "Their style later came to be called the rikka, or "standing flower" style." "The techniques gradually became more meticulous, reaching a period of perfection during the Momoyama era." "The triune "Heaven-Earth-Man" principle of flower arrangement, which originated with the rikka school, was widely used in the Edo period and continues to this day." "The famous tea master Sen no Rikyu  opposed the opulence and obsession with technique beloved by the aristocracy." ""Flowers", he said, "should look as they do in the fields."" "He took flowers in their naturally simple and pristine state  and brought them to life in a simple tea room." ""We don't give them life with our hands," he said, "but with our minds."" "This sensibility was inherited  by the chabana or bunjibana school." "These movements  lead to the moribana school that appeared in the Meiji era, and which continues to this day, but this spirit is largely lost, replaced by uninspired imitation." "When ikebana first came into being, it wasn't locked into stale formulas and conventions." "It was clearly an art form full of freedom and vitality." "Take, for example, the garden  of the Ginkakuji Temple." "It reminds us just how bold and novel the thinking of the time could be." "It's said that this mound of sand reflected the moonlight, creating a truly dreamlike nightscape." "Then there's the stone garden at Ryuanji Temple in Kyoto, which still exists today." "The order of this garden, created by human hands, radiates an abstract beauty." "Contemporary ikebana artists strive to create works of no less beauty." "They wish to be free and imaginative, while still retaining ikebana's original spirit." "They're trying to break the old patterns  and create an ikebana for the modern age." "ln general,  ikebana has been the art of arranging  living flowers and plants in a vase." "Recently, however, steel, stone, wood, and a range of other materials have attracted artists' interest  and been used as materials for composition." "Today, with chairs and tables rapidly becoming a greater part of our lives, the old-fashioned ikebana once found in tokonoma alcoves  would seem practically suffocating." "There are now 300 different styles, or schools, of ikebana in Japan." "More than two million people are said to study the art." "This is a classroom of the Sogetsu school." "Early every Saturday and Sunday morning,  many people gather here, each with their own individual dreams." "Some are here today for the first time." "Here students are learning the basic forms  that make up the foundations of ikebana." "Having mastered those, they're free to experiment,  and once a month they present the results of their study." "This woman is making a basic nageire, or freestyle, arrangement." "For large-scale or experimental projects, students sometimes work together in groups." "Dried grass and shrubs, arranged well or used in novel ways, can manifest an unexpected beauty." "Time spent once a month arranging flowers affords these students  a pleasure that dispels both worry and fatigue." "I recently gave a one-man show in Paris." "I made various works for the show, but showed mainly the smaller ones." "Of those works, the one that attracted the most attention and admiration consisted of a single rubber tree leaf and a single sycamore leaf - just these two leaves together." "As you can see, this is a very pure ikebana arrangement." "Many teachers attend the presentations." "They're shown how to teach about seasonal flowers  and give examples of representative arrangements." "Teaching methods are explained in elaborate detail." "It's best to teach how to do this at least once." "See how this spreads out?" "It's important not only to study the best methods of ikebana, but also to study the best approaches to teaching those methods." "The next flower we'll discuss... is the Japanese hydrangea." "If it's floating in water... it should take up only half the surface of the water." "Put another way, you're actually arranging the water." "In a sense you're making an arrangement on the surface of the water." "It shouldn't cover the entire surface." "Once the lesson is over, the evaluation of the students' completed work begins." "The teacher gives advice  according to the student's individual style and ability." "It's not quite a single arrangement." "Use a short branch here to fill in." "Understand?" "ln contemporary ikebana, there are indeed many different styles of arrangement, just as modern life  is marked by so many different lifestyles." "What the artist requires are abundant concepts and images." "The proper juxtaposition of vase and flower  requires a sharp and perceptive sensibility." "Even if you use  the same vase in the same setting, vastly different types of beauty arise from different arrangements." "Using common fruits and vegetables, one can have fun around the house making creations such as these." "Miniature ikebana is very popular among young people." "We find fascination in the arrangement  of a single flower petal with a single fruit or nut." "Using these creations as a base, let's indulge in some mischievous daydreams." ""What on earth is that?" this lady exclaims." "For the artist, sending one's creations out into the world is the only way to make progress in one's art." "Sofu's annual one-man show is slowly approaching completion." "Work is carried out at an energetic pace in his workshop, and the energy is infectious." "Pieces overflow the workshop all the way to the garden." "A massive grove... rusted scrap iron, freshly quarried Oya stone,  and sticky, viscous plaster  grow eyes and limbs  and start to stream out around us." "SOFU EXHIBITION" "There are always a hundred or so pieces on display at Sofu's one-man shows."" "large ikebana, small ikebana, and the works he's worked hardest on in recent years, various experimental sculptures and installations." "This work, entitled "Life", is 12 feet wide by 36 feet long and is made of wisteria vines." "Regarding this work, Sofu says..." ""Life wants to be powerful." "Life wants to be beautiful,  swelling and moving, flowing and overflowing." "This is how I imagine the wonderful power of life."" "Pulled along by the colors and lines, visitors are enveloped in a mysterious ambience." "With a flock of pieces in tow, let us now leave the exhibit hall." "When these living creations leave their creator's hands, they can go anywhere on Earth  and break out in carefree song." "They seek the freedom of wide-open spaces  and spread their wings in nature's midst." "If the lives of human beings  are unceasing spiritual journeys, then these works of art  give the beautiful life force in our hearts the courage to go on." "THE END"