Ikebana is the centuries-old Japanese art of arranging flowers. The practice, which roughly translates to “making flowers come alive,” uses carefully selected blossoms, greenery and other flora to convey a specific feeling or emotion to an observer – just as a painting or sculpture might.

In ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging, blossoms, branches, leaves, and stems find new life as materials for artmaking. In contrast to the western habits of casually placing flowers in a vase, ikebana aims to bring out the inner qualities of flowers and other live materials and express emotion.

“Ikebana” is from the Japanese ‘ikeru’ (生ける, “to arrange (flowers), have life, be living”) and ‘hana’ (花, “flower”).

The basic equipment needed for ikebana is simple. Really, the only things you need are a pair of scissors or shears for cutting the materials and a kenzan to hold your materials. If you have these two tools, you are on your way to creating a beautiful ikebana arrangement.

“Just give it water,” says Mary Jane. You can add height and dimension to your ikebana by strategically cutting a few branches or flowers at a lower height than the rest and arranging them in a layered formation.

Traditional ikebana, like the traditional tea ceremony, has many tools — saws and wire and kenzans (spiky flower frogs that hold a plant upright) — but Nishiyama uses only a pair of scissors and works on the floor; he is inspired not just by the seasons, but by the constant change and movement within them.

Japanese floral arrangements are some of the most unique and detailed arrangements in its time period. Japanese designs also have two different styles including Rikkwa and Ikebana. The Rikkwa style are characterized by being very large, upright and symmetrical. The second style in the Japanese culture is Ikebana.