OHARA

The Ohara School of Ikebana was founded by Unshin Ohara (1861-1916), in the late nineteenth century, when Japan opened itself to the influence of Western culture. The Ohara School is known for its focus on naturalistic styles and the use of seasonal materials.

Unshin explored the fields and mountains and tried to develop a style of ikebana to express the beauty of natural scenery. He also searched for ways to arrange Western flowers that had just begun to be imported into Japan and created a new style called Moribana. This style later evolved into the school’s “landscape arrangement.” It is considered to be the first brilliant step in modern ikebana. 

Today, the school is led by the young Fifth Headmaster Hiroki Ohara. Ohara School’s curriculum covers traditional styles to more modern styles.

The Ohara School’s main offices are in Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe. It has 160 chapters in Japan and 57 chapters outside Japan. Worldwide. there  are nearly 130,000 Ohara teachers and over one million students in Japan.