Rokkakudo Temple & Ikenobo Headquarters

Thursday afternoon we met at the Rokkakudo Temple which is also the headquarters for the Ikenobo School of Ikebana, said to be the oldest school of this art in Japan. The buildings are a study in contrasts as the temple buildings are old and traditional, while the modern ones are quite contemporary and filled with unusual contemporary art.

This is the Kami Tree with white paper prayers tied to it in front of the main shrine.

As with most temples there is a place to purify your mouth and hands before praying at the shrine, usually including a dragon protector.


This gives you a sense of the space of the courtyard which was an oasis in the midst of a high rise district of Kyoto.



The Main shrine was festooned with banners using the colors of the five Buddha families and the pidgeons were everywhere!


I sat to eat my lunch and they nearly flew into my lap begging for food. Later on this woman came to feed the masses.


While I was eating my lunch I enjoyed watching these workers fill this truck with flower material headed for arrangements somewhere in the area. I was amazed at the range of flower material and envious of what fun they would have working with it. We were only going to be able to observe classes at the Ikenobo School, but the next day we got to have hands on in a Ohara class in a private home.

Not only did the shrines have more traditional Buddhist sculpture, but the gardens held several more contemporary renditions of Buddhist themes. I particularly liked this Buddha with flowers, with two white bird sculptures at this feet and prayer ties strung below.


This Kannon image is unusual in that it appears to be an actual portrait of someone in a traditional pose.

Buddha on Lotus

The contemporary art on the outside of the building and in the temple courtyard reflected the sometimes "over the top" nature of contemporary Ikenobo flower arranging. Truly though working with traditional forms, they are known for bringing in contemporary materials such as plastic, foil, etc. to create bold sculptural arrangements. This was on the street side of the building and was of red dragonflies and black plastic lines.


This sculpture at the entrance shows the traditional Rikka form for arrangements and the pool below held lively colorful carp and white swans.

There was also this waterfall wall with a mimiature maple growing in front of it.


While indoors, visitors were greeted by this birch "forest" on the mezzanine stairs

And these elephants on parade on the way up the stairs. The oval in the background was a water pool base with a kinetic light sculpture hanging above. Everything was playful and lighthearted in feeling. Magical....