About
The garden came first. Japan came later.
The first lesson
29 January 2013, in Gebenstorf. I had read about the various ikebana schools online and settled on Ikenobō in the end because it was the closest.
On the telephone my sensei had asked me to bring winter flowers and branches. I brought blue thistles and white nerines from the florist, along with finely branched cherry twigs I had found by the river Aare the day before. A winter storm had torn them from the wild cherries on the bank. That one should carry a pair of ikebana shears (hasami in Japanese) for such occasions had not yet occurred to me.
She praised the choice, but since it was still January she wanted to make a Shōchikubai for me: pine, bamboo and plum, with which the new year is welcomed. I watched her draw three plants of entirely different character into a single whole. Then it was my turn. I set the white nerines high, since to me they were the snow. Below them a carpet of thistles, metallic blue and cold to the eye, framed by cherry twigs at various lengths and angles that spoke of the spring to come.
When I rebuilt the arrangement at home, the matter was settled.
Where the eye comes from
I grew up next to a botanical garden and spent a great deal of time there. My mother and grandmother kept an allotment where I could watch seeds become seedlings, seedlings become flowers and flowers become seeds again. It is my fascination with that vital force that keeps me at ikebana. An interest in Japan came only afterwards.
Training
Since 2013 I have studied chiefly with my sensei, Suzue Rother-Nakaya. With her letter of recommendation I was also able to take lessons with Miura Sensei at the headquarters in Kyoto. I have been to Japan four times, each visit for lessons and exhibitions in Kyoto, once for three weeks at a stretch, for which I took unpaid leave. Since being admitted as a Special Member I attend annual seminars with visiting Japanese professors in Europe.
I hold the eleventh of eighteen Ikenobō diplomas, Kakō, and am a member of the Ikenobo Swiss Central Chapter. The diplomas are issued by the headquarters in Kyoto.
Exhibitions
- June 2026, Interlaken: exhibition and workshop at the second Swiss congress of Ikebana International
- June 2026, Gebenstorf: seminar and exhibition of the Ikenobo Swiss Central Chapter with two arrangements
- October 2025, Vienna: seminar and autumn exhibition with one arrangement
- October 2024, Lucerne: autumn exhibition of the Ikenobo Swiss Central Chapter with three arrangements in Jiyūka, Shōka and Rikka, and a demonstration
Day work
I am a lecturer at the University of Basel. My work there consists of passing on knowledge and skills, and what I have learnt about teaching also bears on my ikebana lessons.
Shunkō
春光 is my artist name and means spring light. The seal appears in the footer of every page.