Plot

The history and art of ikebana, a centuries old Japanese art of flower arrangement and a look inside the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, where the director's father Sofu Teshigahara worked as the grand master of the school.

This documentary traces the history of ikebana, or flower arranging: its origins, its formalisation 500 years ago, the emergence of the rikka, the oldest style of ikebana, with its heaven-earth-man trinity, and the influence of Rikyu's simplicity. Enter the modern era, embodied at the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, where flower arranging is taught alongside contemporary sculpture and pottery. We visit a weekend class of flower arranging with novice and experienced students evaluated by a master, Sofu Teshigahara, director Hiroshi Teshigahara's father. Then, we watch the master prepare for his annual show. If life is an unceasing spiritual journey, says the narrator, then art gives us the courage to go on.—Nick Riganas