Ikebana
Types of Ikebana: Moribana
Moribana uses a shallow container and a kenzan, a holder with many sharp points into which flowers are inserted. The big feature of moribana is the broad expanse of natural-looking shapes and a mound of beautiful flowers.
While the heika style was developed many centuries ago and has a lot of rules, moribana is only about a hundred years old and is not as fussy. Western flowers can be used, for instance, and the arranged flowers may be placed in Western-style rooms and entranceways--not just in the tokonoma, the alcove of traditional Japanese-style rooms.
There are different types of moribana depending on the length and angle of the primary, secondary, and ornamental stems. The upright style is the most common; it exudes a feeling of stability and gravity. In this style, the primary stem is about as long as the diameter and depth of the container combined, with the secondary stem being around two-thirds and and the ornamental stem about half the length of the primary branch.
The primary stem is placed vertically, while the secondary stem is tilted 45 degrees and scattered over a 30-degree area to the front and left. The ornamental stem is tilted 60 degrees and placed across a 45-degree area to the front and right. Seen from above, the three stems form a right triangle. Flowers are placed inside this triangle to fill out the shape. (248 words)
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