Evening star., 1937-01-02

eigner. They were so polite and
gracious, the japanese. But that
wouldn't have been fair for there
were, oh, so many teachers in Japan
who could teach better than I and
whose living might be. ever so tenn
porarily it is true, depressed had I
done so.'
The Iemoto degree is not frequently
attained, for diploma is costly. The
"sheepskin'-in this case exquisite
japanese paper illuminated and
stamped with the O'Hara School seal
is of great value For in Japan
ideas form a family's fortune.
About 500 years ago definite rules
Of flower arrangement were given this
art. The great Shotgun, Iyemasu, the
artistic ruler of the Ashikaga dynasty.
to the gods without thought and
meditation. The Shogun's adviser,
Saomi. said: Flowers should be ar
ranged in a way that they represent
the three principles of life in such
balanced, harmonious manner that
they present one artistic unit. The
three principles, heaven, men and
earth, give to the arrangement height,
balance and stability, or height, base
and bridge"
This principle of three is still the
fundamental base of all schools of
flower arrangement in Japan. Koun
O'Hara, however. created new combi-
nations and arrangements which are
now typical of the O'Hara School.
When his first pupils graduated and
went forth as teachers they returned
to the founder-Koun O'Hara-the
value of their diplomas as kind of
royalty. Thus every diploma given to
an O'Hara School graduate has a two
fold value-one for the diploma It..
self. the other for the founders FAM
| lily, whose inherited fortune it Is -
MRS. GREGOR speaks Japanese
~ fluently. but smilingly acknowl-
edges that after one broadcast in
| Akita, she decided lecturing and
teaching would be less strenuous. She
is sincerely proud of the fact that she
was made a member of the Founders
House. to which only teachers who
have distinctive creative ability are
admitted; proud, also, that she is the
only Western woman who has ex-
hibited in Toxic.
| It seems that the florists in Japan
profit most commercially from these
schools Of flower arrangement. Each
pupil (by the way, men as well as
women study at these schools. the
rich and well-born, and the poor and
non-college) buys his own flowers,
stems. branches, leaves. seeds, berries,
sprays, grasses or fern fronds and ar
ranges them according to his grade of
study. There are endless arrange
ments to learn. The schools In the
country naturally use country flowers
and foliage, while those In the urban
centers are more from the florists hot
houses and gardens.
Mrs. Greger does not like the Amer
ican way of using so many flowers and
SO few buds, stems and foliage. Stu
dents in the nkko Greger School of
Flower Arrangement are learning
flowers emphasize particular qualities
in the home: that nearly all flowers
need solid background because 1t
isn't often that a flower Is lovelier
with the light behind 1t.
The gardens in America, vegetable
and flower. and the woods and fields,
are gorgeous with material for flower
inches. Each season brings varia-
tions. This explains why after the
technical art of flower arrangement
is learned, the students bid fair to re-
main through the years to study until
they. too. gain the masters degree
the Iemoto.