Are you familiar with Ikebana ? Have you ever learned Ikebana arrangement ? If your answer is yes to these questions, you must know what “Kenzan” is and what “Suiban” is. Kenzan and Suiban are devices which are often used for making Ikebana arrangements in the traditional way.
If I literally translate the word of Kenzan into English, it is “sword mountain”. This device can be called spiky frog or needlepoint holder. This is made of heavy metal on which uncountable number of needles are mounted. When making Ikebana arrangement, designers place flowers onto the needles for fixing flowers in the container called Suiban. Kenzan can be used for a lifetime.
Then what is Suiban ? It is a shallow type container specifically designed for Ikebana arrangement. Unlike the vertical vase, this is a flat and horizontal type of container in which above mentioned Kenzan is placed.
For those who have never learned Ikebana, both Kenzan and Suiban are quite new and they have no idea about what they are. Needless to say they do not know how to use them in Ikebana arrangements.
Therefore I always think it better to demonstrate how to use these devices rather than explaining the function of these devices to students who see them for the first time.
More than 35 years ago, I started learning Ikebana in Japan. By the present time, I have been teaching Ikebana to uncountable number of students both in Japan and in the United States. There are lots of students who are not familiar with Kenzan and Suiban in America. Especially people who learn Ikebana for the first time do not know what they are. If they want to know what these devices are, they can come to our school to see students using them in the classroom.
Among various Ikebana arrangement programs we offer at our school, Ikebana short seminar program is just 2.5 hour lesson during which students can learn two kinds of basic Ikebana arrangements. And the lesson fee is only $89. In this price I include the cost of Kenzan and Suiban so that students do not have to spend extra time for buying them at the market. This means that all they have to do is just come to the classroom where their instructor is awaiting them together with Kenzan and Suiban already prepared on the table for students.
Unlike floral foam (also known as “Oasis” ) used for European or American style floral arrangements, Kenzan can be used repeatedly. I can say it can be used for a period of lifetime. The same story about Suiban. Unless somebody breaks them on purpose, both can be used for a long period of time. These two items are included as a STARTER KIT in the lesson fee of Ikebana Short Seminar Program ($89), which must be pretty convenient to students.
If you are interested in Ikebana or if you have any interest in finding what Kenzan and Suiban are, why not join California Flower Art Academy ? It costs only $89 which covers not only tuition for learning two types of basic Ikebana arrangements but also flower materials as well as Kenzan and Suiban that can become your lifetime properties with no extra cost.
California Flower Art Academy has been engaged in teaching a variety of floral designs since 1990 in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley (San Jose) as a floral school certified by Flower Decorators Association (Tokyo Japan). If you want to earn practical skills of floral arrangements, we can help. For more information, contact info@california-academy.com
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