How Japanese flower arranging influenced Mazda designer Mai Utagawa.

Words Steve Beimel / Photography Irwin Wong

 

She is Mazda Colour Designer Mai Utagawa. He is ikebana artist Mario Hirama. In a perfectly proportioned, uncluttered corner room in a post-and-beam house built with wood joinery in the hills of Kobe, Japan, the two have come together to explore the concept of space as they create an ikebana flower arrangement.

Soft light streams in under the deep eaves onto the tatami mat floors, paper shoji doors, and floor-to-ceiling windows opening to a Japanese garden. This designer, who creates permanent interior spaces in cars, and this artist, who creates ephemeral spaces lasting but a few days, speak the same language – of simplicity, colour, line, texture, shape, light and shadow, and design by removal.

 

Their conversations today could be understood by people from any culture. Rather than sounding like a “Japan only” philosophy, Hirama’s ikebana feels open and universal. Yet each brings a sensibility and spirit that is unmistakably Japanese.

“I attended Hirama’s workshop,” shares Utagawa, “at a time when I was preoccupied with the theme of ‘Japanese Beauty’ for a car interior project.” Hirama describes ikebana as giving life to a space that is uniquely experienced in each passing moment. Flowers, vase, wooden base, background, margins, and light harmoniously occupy the entire space.

“Hearing about his spatial approach,” she continues, “deepened my understanding of how balance can be achieved in a space by harmonising its materials. For example, incorporating a wood surface into a car interior that responds beautifully to unevenly fluctuating natural light can create a feeling that changes with each moment, like with ikebana.”

WHAT IS IKEBANA?

Ikebana, which translates literally as “bringing flowers to life”, originated in the sixth century as the practice of placing flowers on Buddhist altars. During the 1500s, it developed in new directions, becoming an integral part of the tea ceremony as well as a way to symbolically display authority and wealth in feudal castles.

Though philosophical interpretations differ among today’s 2,000 unique and largely secular ikebana schools, most agree that arrangements should focus on colour, line and mass to create a harmonious microcosm of the natural world. Ikebana’s insistence on imitating nature with odd numbers of flowers and asymmetry results in an engaging, “unfinished,” open-ended feeling.

Over time, ikebana students are given increasingly difficult design challenges with an unlimited variety of plant material, vases and spatial variation. For many, it becomes a lifelong study that nurtures and develops one’s individual, intuitive sense of beauty and design.

Hirama’s and Utagawa’s educations differed, but both resulted in high design sensibility. Hirama studied under an ikebana teacher for six years before going independent and developing his own style. Utagawa’s university training began with graphic and product design, and then colour design.

Training for both involved tackling one design problem after another through trial and error over many years. Hirama continued on his own, exploring texture, colour and space while creating with live plants, wood and ceramics. Utagawa’s work at Mazda also involved texture, colour and space in co-ordinating interior design with leather, cloth and surface decoration. “It was at Mazda where I gained an appreciation for the fastidiousness, care and meticulous attention to detail of Japanese craftsmanship.”

Recalling the previous workshop with Hirama, Utagawa says, “I was captivated by his careful preparation of the ikebana space and the way he consciously and sensitively met each flower. This renewed my own intention to always bring this kind of spirit to my work at Mazda.”

Hirama demonstrates those qualities over and over on this day in Kobe. In preparation for arranging, he removes everything from the room and thoroughly cleans it. He brings in a weathered wooden platform for the vase and carefully measures the area to ensure perfect placement before meticulously laying out his tools on a folded black cotton cloth. “Methodically setting up the space makes the actual work of arranging so much easier and fun,” he shares as he once again sweeps the area clean.

 

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“I want people to experience the kind of wondrous beauty that exists only in spontaneous moments.”

MAI UTAGAWA

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Utagawa shows Hirami the materials she chose that were inspired by his work.

 

Hirama invites Utagawa to begin by helping choose a vase. “In ikebana,” he explains, “the vase is a stage that enhances the flowers’ brilliance. It must have its own rich expression.” They decide on a large black bowl and place it asymmetrically on the wooden base. He suggests that they choose just a few flowers, giving their full attention to each one.

The mantra “simplicity is powerful” defines his work. After securing a branch of green foliage in the vase, Utagawa begins removing leaves and stems that she feels are unnecessary, which exposes the surface of the water in the vase.

After carefully studying a half dozen white flowers, Hirama places his favourite into the bowl. “I take time to carefully adjust each part of the arrangement. The direction of the light is important, and I want viewers to connect with both seen and unseen elements in the space.”

Hirama continues: “There exists something extending beyond the flower itself, something which fills the space. You may sense it, imagine it, feel it, smell it. It is an atmosphere, a kind of presence.” After considerable re-adjusting of subtle leaf positions, he hands Utagawa a water pump. Standing high above and behind, she completes their ikebana with a fine, rain-like mist.

Earlier in the day, Utagawa had shared her realisation that the theme of “Japanese Beauty” for a car interior could be experienced “as a warm and comfortable part of daily life, like making a delicious cup of tea.” Or perhaps as a softly lit space with raindrops on flowers.

 

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“To create an ikebana is to ‘live in the moment’ where neither past nor future exists. We are briefly and intensely inspired, and then we let it go.”

MAI UTAGAWA

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