With a history of over 500 years, the history of Ikenobo indeed encompasses the history of ikebana. Ikebana expresses not only a resonance with its plant and flower materials, but is filled with our joy at the very existence of the life force itself. The form of ikebana has endured and evolved with changing life styles and ways of appreciating beauty, yet Ikenobo's rich tradition provides a firm basis for innovation in today's modern ikebana. Ikenobo's styles include not only the solemn and majestic rikka and traditional shoka, but the brightness of modern shoka and the abstract designs of jiyuka, or free style.

As with many of the enduring traditional Japanese arts, the basic principles of ikebana were first formulated nearly 500 years ago in Japan's Muromachi period. The teachings of the headmasters of that time, Ikenobo Senkei and Ikenobo Senno, contributed to a fundamental awareness of the meaning of ikebana which continues to be taught and appreciated today. Since then, each successive headmaster has urthered the tradition of updating the styles and adapted Ikenobo ikebana to suit the lifestyle of his time. Ikenobo Sen'ei, Ikenobo's 45th and present headmaster, continues this rich tradition while further filling it with the bright energy of modern life. Ikenobo has thus assumed an important role in spreading Japanese flower arranging throughout the world, working to bring its qualities of grace, refinement and naturalness to our modern culture.

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