It is always a pleasure to visit and take lessons from the masters at the Sogetsu Headquarters in Tokyo. Flower material is always abundant and sometimes it feels like we have too many choices!
Here are the arrangements I worked on this time around.
27-Oct-2025
This one uses an interesting plant. Gomphocarpus physocarpus, the balloon plant. Japanese name: フウセントウワタ (“fuusentouwata”)
10-Nov-2025
I hope you like them. —Miyako
We are pleased to announce that shipments to the U.S. have resumed.
The order process will be the same as before. However the new U.S. government rules require that the duties based on the current tariff rates be paid before shipment. So when we send you your order quotation, you will see the duties and clearance fees charged by the U.S. government added on to your order total.
Visit the Canada Post webpage for more details on U.S. sending requirements.
Please also note that the rules may change without any prior notice. All we can do is to try to react as best as we can.
Thank you for your understanding.
My sensei gifted me with tickets to the 106th Sogetsu Annual Ikebana Exhibition at the Takashimaya Department Store in Nihombashi, Tokyo. 『花は心』 ”Flowers Are The Heart”.
At the entrance was a huge bamboo installation created by Sogetsu Iemoto Akane Teshigahara. It was like a graceful dance of bamboo, showing speed of movement and yet still elegant.
Here are some more of the beautiful arrangements.
And… how lucky for me to meet Iemoto Akane Teshigara herself! It was an honour!
One of my students came back from the Annapolis Valley and brought these wonderful branches for me. We don’t know what they are. They have big, berry-like fruit and very long thorns!
I decided to use only these branches for an arrangement. The changing colours and slight curling of the leaves tell us that autumn is here! The glossy fruit give contrast to the fading hues.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
It was surprising to see the underside of this leaf turning purple!
I hope you like it! —Miyako
As summer ends, the ubiquitous Queen Anne’s Lace flowers have started to ball up into flowerheads. Yes, the plant is considered a weed but is still interesting to use for ikebana!
I hope you like it. —Miyako
Updated 6-Nov-2025:
Shipments to the U.S. have resumed. Thank you for your patience.
We love our American friends. And it pains us to make this announcement.
Shipments to the U.S. are temporarily suspended, effective Aug 23rd, 2025.
“…the United States has suspended its duty-free “de minimis” threshold of US$800 for all countries, including Canada. Starting August 29, 2025, all shipments entering the U.S. must have duties prepaid before crossing the border - regardless of their value.
This change, mandated under U.S. Executive Order 14324, applies to all business shipments from Canada, whether sent through the postal system, a Canadian courier, freight provider, or any commercial channel….
Goods valued at US$800 or less that are shipped to the United States through the postal network will be subject to an ad valorem duty. This duty will be equal to the effective tariff rate applicable to the product’s country of origin under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). For Canada, the current IEEPA rate is 35% for most goods.”
The tariff will be required to be paid up front with new documentation including a “Declaration ID” to show that the tariff has been paid. We are not entirely sure how to go about this. We do not have the resources to dig deeper to get more clarity. On top of that, we really cannot afford to pay 35% more. To avoid jeopardizing any shipment, we have made the sad decision to suspend U.S. shipments for now.
We look forward to serving our U.S. customers again soon. Thank you for your kind understanding.
We had the opportunity to present an ikebana workshop to JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Programme Canada alumni who gathered in Halifax for their annual convention.
As everyone had experience living in Japan, majority have heard about ikebana. They understood easily enough ikebana principles such as creation of negative space (“ma”), asymmetry, etc. And, we were able to intersperse some Japanese language instruction through the workshop as well!
It was a very enjoyable time! We hope the delegates from all over Canada had a fun time in Halifax!
When we did our exhibition at the LaHave Bookstore in the South Shore of Nova Scotia, we met pottery artist Vaughan Smith. His glazes of black, grey, blue, light blue, and foamy white certainly felt like they depicted the spectrum of colours inspired by the LaHave River.
As nageire vases were getting harder and harder to find in Japan, we asked him if he could make some for us and he kindly obliged. We even requested grooves around the mouth of the vases to help with the cross-bar fixtures. (See our online shop.)
Here is an arrangement with one of Vaughan’s nageire vases.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
A few days ago, we were invited by a company in Halifax to present ikebana as part of the firm’s recreation programs. The demonstration was also live-streamed to all their offices across Canada! Thank you very much for your interest in ikebana!
