Ikebana: Japanese Flower Arrangement (Hardcover)

~ Reiko Takenaka (Author) "Put cheerful flowers or a romantic bloom on a sunny windowsill, arranged freely to your taste..." (more)
Key Phrases: needlepoint holder, patrinia scabiosafolia, weeping golden bell, Ageratum Container, Position Japanese (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A unique approach to creating flower arrangements that are inspired by and faithful to your own ideas, with substantial advice on how to make the most of ikebana in daily life. 92 arrangements are on this book with step-by-step photo instructions for beginners to understand.

About the Author

REIKO TAKENAKA has given many demonstrations, and has designed and arranged many displays for numerous events, including demonstrations before state guests. Now she plays an active apart in domestic and international scenes of cultural exchange as an ikebana artist, in such cities as New York< San Francisco, Hong Kong and Geneva.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 130 pages
• Publisher: Japan Publications Trading (September 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870409581
• ISBN-13: 978-0870409585
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #552,322 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars definitely not the best book on ikebana, February 21, 2004

By	katyasim (Jersey City, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

The problem with this book is that most of the shown arrangements are plainly not beautiful. They don't look balanced as real ikebana should look, containers don't seem suitable for flowers, color combinations are not always harmonious, and in many cases it is not clear why this is called ikebana at all. There are some pieces of useful information such as diagrams, tools, and tips, but I don't think it reasonable to buy the book for those 10 pages (like I did).
There is a really great book on ikebana: "The art of arranging flowers; a complete guide to Japanese ikebana" by Shozo Sato, but it is out of print I am afraid. For examples of good ikebana look at these sites: http://www.nihonkoryu.org/, http://homepages.stmartin.edu/fac_staff/elias/index.htm, http://www.ikebanahq.org/

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book for those who need English explanation of basics, December 28, 2001

By	nekko1 "nekko1" (San Francisco Bay Area) - See all my reviews

This is a clearly written, well thought out explanation of the basics of Ikebana. The photographs demonstrating the combinations of materials, and their height relative to each other, are great as examples for beginners. Many ikebana teachers don't speak English well, so this book is useful for a cross reference for something you were taught in class. One problem - there are many schools of ikebana so the book has to be quite generic in its explanations, which is not necessarily how your particular school may approach a certain principle. But again, as a study supplement to a class, it works well.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Ikebana, August 11, 2000

By	"arinip" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Many ikebana books shows a very traditional way of arranging flower. This book, however, shows a simpler and more modern way arrangement with the result of nice and unusual looks of flower arrangement. The step-by-step is helpful and quite detailed. The book shows lots of different variations for cool vases or containers as well.