Our ikebana lessons were under Ashida Ichiju Sensei at the Kadou Enshu School of Ikebana. We had opportunities to take small group/one-on-one lessons at the Kadou Enshu School, or larger group lessons at the Heartopia Kyoto Community center. During these lessons, we would begin with a short explanation of the names of the flowers we were using that day, and an explanation of the style we would be arranging. Then we slowly worked on our own arrangements, getting feedback from Ashida Sensei as we worked.

I had such an amazing experience learning from Ashida Sensei. Beyond just teaching the stylistic philosophy of ikebana, he would also explain the rich history surrounding the art. While he does speak English, I wanted to challenge myself to speak only in Japanese, and he was very patient and always made sure to explain words I was unfamiliar with. After the one-on-one lessons, we had the honor of sharing tea with him, and during this time I was able to chat with him more about his career, and he asked me questions about my semester as well. At the last lesson, it was so hard to say goodbye as I really enjoyed the calm and kind atmosphere, but Ashida Sensei said we were welcome to come visit and take lessons again, so I hope to be able to return to Kyoto soon!

A piece of advice I would give is to really make an effort to talk to your Sensei (if you’re doing a CIP with a Sensei, but also all of the Senseis within KCJS as well)! The first few weeks I went, our conversations were mostly about ikebana, but as time went on I was able to ask about all of my curiosities and Ashida Sensei was so enthusiastic to talk to me, it was overall just such a welcoming and fulfilling experience and I think it would have been completely different if I hadn’t made an effort to make conversation. Also, don’t be afraid of one-on-one lessons! I was definitely nervous about it since there are certain rules and manners to be careful of, but over time I found that the one-on-ones was where I was able to chat with my Sensei the most and also get lots of feedback!