Japanese Flower Arrangement

This past summer, I went to Japan to study abroad. One of the courses related popular culture to traditions of the Japanese. In doing that, we have to first learn about the traditions through cultural lessons.

One of the cultural lessons was flower arrangement. We were told to "go for it". We arranged the flowers and leaves as we saw fit. We tried our best to match the aesthetic of the well trained flower arrangers of Japan. Of course, we had trouble doing as great as a job as they did. When corrections needed to be made in order to reach perfection, our teachers let us know. They explained to us the way it was supposed to be. There is definitely a technique when it comes to flower arranging. There cannot be too many flowers blocking the leaves, one leaf cannot be as long as the other, and there must be a difference in height when it came to making the flowers look presentable.