🌿We are extremely honoured to introduce to the Romanian public Prof. Dr. Osamu Inoue, PhD (Kyoto University), a personality of current Japanese culture, researcher and also master of the Saga-Goryu Ikebana school.
🌿Mr. Osamu Inoue is:
* PhD (Kyoto University)
* Professor at Kyoto Saga University of Arts
* Member of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Subcommittee and the Cultural Properties Subcommittee of the Council for Cultural Affairs, in Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
* Academic Advisor to the Former Saga Imperial Palace, the headquarters of Ikebana school Saga Goryu
* President of the International Society of Ikebana Research
🌿Major Publications:
The Philosophy of Ikebana, 2016
Poetry, Flowers, Incense, and the Tea Ceremony, 2017
Tea and Flowers (co-authored), 2020
Nature, Man and Flowers, 2021
🌿Prof. Dr. Osamu Inoue will give a conference about Ikebana on Tuesday, October 14 2025, at 6:00 PM, in the Aula Magna of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest, Bd. Mărăști 59. You can also see him at the Festival Opening, October 13, 2025, 6:00 PM, a celebration of Japanese art, with demonstrations of Ikebana, Kitsuke, and Japanese and Romanian music performed by Sound Choir from Bucharest, conducted by Mr. Voicu Popescu.

🌿Free entry, we look forward to seeing you!
Link event Festival: https://www.facebook.com/events/773259925594866

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💐KOBAYASHI YOSHIE SENSEI (Komon degree, Sogetsu school) has been practicing Ikebana for over 50 years and is the one whose workshops you absolutely must attend, if you are an ikebana artist. She is an extraordinary teacher, recommended by Matsumura Rumiko Sensei (Riji) herself, with whom we had the honor and joy of studying last year at the first edition of the Bucharest Ikebana Festival.
💐During the Bucharest Ikebana Festival (October 13-19, 2025, USAMVB, Bd. Mărăști), Kobayashi Sensei will hold three workshops under the theme "West meets East", which anyone can participate in, even beginners.
-Classical Nageire Form (Basic Level): October 17th, 6:00 PM
- Composition of Mass and Line (Advanced Level): October 18th, 9:00 AM
- Use of Moss (Teacher Level): October 19th, 10:00 AM
For information and details, please write to: ikebanaintlbucharest@yahoo.com
💐A few words about Kobayashi Sensei:
- Her name in Ikebana: Seihou青芳 (Blue Fragrance)
- She began studying Ikebana in 1965
- She received the rank of Komon from Iemoto Akane Teshigahara herself
- She participated in the annual exhibitions of the Sogetsu school for 10 years
💐Through her words, Kobayashi Sensei teaches us the essence of Ikebana:
”As I teach many students, I am always happy and I always learn from my students. Ikebana is my life.”
Learning Ikebana from Kobayashi Sensei is a unique experience. We look forward to seeing you!

🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂
🍂The next guest is very special for Ikebana International Bucharest: Tanaka Yukiko Sensei from Kyoto, Japan.
Tanaka Sensei is an honorary member of our Ikebana Association. She was the one who brought us not only the Saga Goryu Ikebana school, which she practices and which we needed to be part of the Ikebana International organization, but also a certain way of being: delicacy intertwined with cheerfulness, kindness and generosity that harmoniously combine with wisdom and a sharp mind, sensitivity and a lot of humor.
She came to Romania 3 years ago and since then she wants to always come back, to our joy. Tanaka Sensei is already part of our family❤
🍂Tanaka Sensei is a Japanese language teacher, she studied at
- Kyoto College of Foreign Studies
- YWCA Osaka Japanese Language Teacher Course
🍂She has worked as a teacher for a long time, not only in Japan, but also in Hungary, Poland and Romania (where she taught an intensive Japanese course for 3 months, within our University, USAMVB, to the delight of her students).
She is also a tea ceremony teacher, Urasenke school.
🍂This year, you can meet Tanaka Sensei at the Ikebana Festival on Sunday, October 19, at 9:00 for a Chado (tea ceremony) workshop.
🍂It is a very special opportunity to get to know the true tradition of hospitality from the old, eternal Kyoto, through the gentle and smiling eyes of Tanaka Sensei.
🍂For information and registration, please write to us at: ikebanaintlbucharest@yahoo.com
We are waiting for you!

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✨ ITSUKO KASAHARA SENSEI – Hand-Painted Yuzen Artist ✨
Based in Tokyo and recognized as a Registered Preserver of Intangible Cultural Property, Itsuko Kasahara has been creating hand-painted Yuzen for over 40 years. 🌸
She produces everything from kimono and obi to clothing, interior art. Her signature style features graceful flower motifs, often inspired by wild blossoms and grasses.
Alongside her artwork, Kasahara teaches Yuzen painting classes in Japan and workshops for international visitors.

Her exhibitions span across Japan, with highlights including cultural events in Russia, Uzbekistan, and the Paris Japan Expo in 2014. 🌍👘

🍁🌿🍁🌿🍁🌿🍁
🌿This year we will receive the visit of a charming representative of the art of kimono, KAMIYA TSUYAKA SENSEI.
🌿Kamiya Sensei is a Kitsuke teacher who is already in love with Romania🥰
Before reading her words that help us get to know her, we remind you that you can see her:
- in the Kitsuke performance at the opening ceremony of the Ikebana Festival on October 13, 2025 (free admission, limited to available seats),
- at the workshop / demonstration on October 16 (for registration or information, please write to us at ikebanaintlbucharest@yahoo.com).

🌿”My name is Tsuyaka Kamiya, a kimono stylist and teacher based in Tokyo, Japan. I also occasionally model for kimono remake projects.
This coming October, I will visit Romania with Yuzen artist Kasahara-san to share the beauty of traditional Japanese culture. It is a pleasure to connect with you, and thank you so much for the warm welcome—I’m truly honored to have this opportunity.
I do stage demonstrations, as well as photo and video shoots featuring traditional kimono. I also provide kimono dressing (kitsuke) for various events, such as the Nihonshu tournament, coming-of-age ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, and more.
At the workshop:
I’d like to give a presentation on the history of the kimono and introduce the various types, including Furisode and Hōmongi. Following that, I would like to offer a live demonstration, showing how to dress in these styles while explaining the Kitsuke process—the tools I use and the techniques involved.
In addition, I hope to lead a hands-on workshop where participants can learn how to dress in kimono themselves.
I also think giving the participants a Macha tea or a Japanese snack, and a small Japanese gift so that they can eat or drink while watching my demonstration.
I would also be happy to perform Hakubi Mai—a three-minute performance where I wear a kimono and express its beauty through graceful movement set to music.
I would also love to organize a collaborative fashion show featuring both Romanian traditional clothing and kimono, to celebrate the unique beauty of both cultures.
Since deciding to visit Romania, I’ve been talking with Romanian people and already love their culture and people. I’m very excited to attend the event and meet everyone who will be there. ☺❤

Thank you so much for your support!”
Link event Festival: https://www.facebook.com/events/773259925594866

SOUND CHOIR, conducted by Mr. VOICU POPESCU, will also come to this year's edition of the Ikebana Festival, with the joy that characterizes them and their big hearts where music is created first of all❤ You can listen to them at the opening ceremony on October 13, at 6:00 PM, USAMVB, Bd. Mărăști 59, with a small recital of Japanese and Romanian songs.
For those who don't already know them, here's a little presentation:
Since 1994, Sound Choir has been more than a choir - it's a family of voices, friends and passion for music.
Sound Choir is an award-winning ensemble, renowned for its vibrant energy and stylistic versatility. With a repertoire that ranges from classical and contemporary works to film soundtracks, jazz, gospel and rock, the choir has won top awards at international competitions and performed on renowned stages across Europe.

Each concert is a bold blend of passion, precision and joy - making Sound Choir unforgettable for audiences everywhere.

We look forward to seeing you!
Facebook Sound Choir: https://www.facebook.com/SOUNDChoir
Site: https://choralsound.ro/
Link event Festival: https://www.facebook.com/events/773259925594866

🌼Choose your favorite instructor from the Bucharest Ikebana Festival!
The next guest, MARIANNE DUFRAISSE, comes from France, but her roots are Romanian. A beautiful and pure soul, a person of surprising authenticity, with a clear and confident gaze, with an overflowing and powerful creative energy that animates her to always discover new means of expression.
🌼Marianne has two workshops during the Bucharest Ikebana Festival (October 13-19, 2025, USAMVB, Bd. Mărăști 59):
- October 18 / 11:00 - White or colored paper, creativity with unconventional materials)
- October 19 / 12:00 - Kakebana in a bamboo, creativity with flowers and seasonal plants
For information and registration, please write to us at: ikebanaintlbucharest@yahoo.com
🌼A short presentation:
Franco-Romanian Ikebana artist, 3rd degree teacher- Sankyu Shihan
Flower name: Kishin
Member of:
- Sogetsu Teachers Association,
- Ikebana International Bucharest Chapter 269
Instagram: fleurgreen19
Mail: abcmaria74@hotmail.com
🌼Exhibitions:
2025 - Arboretum Espartignac France - Bamboo and Ikebana
2025 - Rendez-vous au jardin - at the Arboretum of Espartignac France
2024 - Ikebana International Festival Bucharest
2015 France, Medoc Gironde - Japanese art in all its forms
2014 France, Brive, exhibition for the Sacred Days of Japan
Workshops:
- Active member of the Ikebana Club chaired by Ekaterina Seehaus
- Private/public demonstrations in France to introduce the art of Ikebana to the general public
🌼Her own words:
"My journey on the Path of Flowers began 10 years ago. After studying the 5 textbooks, I obtained my first teacher's diploma in 2023, and my second in 2025.
What I like about Ikebana is that we learn constantly, and throughout life, at any level, every ikebanist has a teacher, someone who has more experience to share, a special bond being created and an artistic relationship that is as rare as it is impressive.
I practiced Western floral art as a hobby for 20 years, which gave me the opportunity to meet great names among international floral creators. But I felt that I was missing something deeper, a state close to meditation, a state of fulfillment and pure happiness, that's how I feel when I practice Ikebana.
The covid period gave me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and imagine other ways of working and processing what I had at hand, this being one of the advantages of our Sogetsu school – anyone can create, with any material, anywhere. It is an extraordinary motto in opening new horizons, a motto full of positive energy and so profound.
My favorite materials are bamboo, unconventional materials, but also everything that is more “expressive” or different in nature, I like to give them an artistic life. We find these materials very often in my creations presented in exhibitions in France where I live or in Romania where I am one of the members of Ikebana International Bucharest Chapter 269.”

🌺Choose your favorite teacher from the Bucharest Ikebana Festival!
🌺 The next guest is ALINA ALEXANDRU, a person with extraordinary inner strength, who manages to alchemize her experiences and transform them into healing art, revealing and passionately emphasizing the beauty of this world.
🌺- Name in Ikebana: Fuyu 風夕(Evening Breeze)
- Certified teacher in the Sogetsu Ikebana school - Grade 3
- Director of International Relations within our Ikebana International Bucharest Association, also a member of the Tokyo Sogetsu Association and the Branch Française Sogetsu Paris.
🌺Alina will have an Ikebana workshop during the Bucharest Ikebana Festival (October 13-19, 2025, USAMVB, Bd. Mărăști 59) on October 19, 3:00 PM, with the theme "The art of lines, volume and balance, expanders from midollino". In the images you can see examples of her Ikebana works with expanders, as you can work during her workshop on Sunday, October 19.
For information and registration, please write to us at: ikebanaintlbucharest@yahoo.com
🌺A few words to get to know her:
Alina Alexandru is currently a certified Ikebana teacher in Japan, level 3, and will soon receive her level 2 certificate.
She initially had a Western floristry background that was later enriched with the spiritual dimension of Ikebana, and is currently very active in promoting Japanese floral art in Europe. With a double background – PhD student in economics, but also an artist of flowers and Japanese culture – she combines discipline and professional rigor with the sensitivity and beauty of floral ephemera.
She has coordinated various exhibitions and cultural events over the years.
🌺Through her works, Alina brings to the public an art of balance and transformation, inspired by Japanese tradition, but open to contemporary creativity.
Ikebana becomes, in her vision, a form of meditation and artistic expression, a bridge between cultures and generations. Her dedication is doubled by a deep personal dimension – an art that she offers as a tribute of love and memory for her daughter, Ingrid, transforming suffering into shared beauty.
🌺Her Facebook page, where you can see her artistic journey: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070152981210
We are waiting for you!

🌹ANDREEA GEORGESCU – Ikebana Artist, President of Peony Study Group Sogetsu and Development Director of Ikebana International Bucharest Chapter.

You can see Andreea at the opening ceremony of the Bucharest Ikebana Festival, October 13, 2025, at 6:00 PM, in the Aula Magna of the USAMVB Rectorate, with an Ikebana demonstration. She will also have an Ikebana workshop on Saturday, October 18, at 2:00 PM, with the theme: “Using Fresh and Unconventional Materials in Ikebana”.

🌹For information and registration, please write to us at: ikebanaintlbucharest@yahoo.com.

🌹Andreea Georgescu has been studying ikebana for over 20 years. Since 2020, she has been attending the Sogetsu School of Ikebana in Tokyo, Japan, where she currently holds the 3rd-grade teaching certificate and continues her training toward the 2nd grade. She is a member of the Sogetsu Teacher's Association, and the flower name given for her by the head of the Sogetsu School, Akane Teshigahara, is Seitō 青冬 (Blue Winter). She also coordinates the first and only Sogetsu Study Group in Romania.

🌹Over the years, Andreea has led ikebana workshops and demonstrations in prestigious contexts, such as:

for members of the diplomatic corps and the International Women Association, at the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to Romania,

at the Romanian Embassy in Tokyo, at the invitation of the Romanian Cultural Institute,

in exhibitions at the National Museum of Art of Romania, the Romanian Peasant Museum, Cărturești, USAMV, and others.

🌹She has also created ikebana demonstrations and structures for major cultural and artistic events, including TIFF, Bookfest (Japanese Embassy stand), the International Tourism Fair (JNTO stand), and the launch of the video game Assassin’s Creed.

🌹Andreea invites you to an ikebana workshop using fresh and unconventional materials, where you will explore the beauty of Japanese floral arrangements from a creative and surprising perspective.

🌹Together, we will experiment with combining natural and unusual elements to discover new possibilities of artistic expression. The workshop is suitable for both beginners and advanced practitioners, as we search for harmony between tradition and originality.

🌻CAMELIA ILEANA ȚÎRLESCU is the one who will initiate you into the secrets of the art of pressed flowers, OSHIBANA! In the images you can see some of the creations of those who participate in her workshops, adults and children.

🌻Her Oshibana workshop at the Bucharest Ikebana Festival (October 13-19, 2025, USAMVB, Bd. Mărăști 59) will be on Saturday, October 18, at 6:00 PM.

For information and registration, please write to us at: ikebanaintlbucharest@yahoo.com

🌻Camelia is an Ikebana artist, floral designer, a warm person, with the soul of a sunflower, open to all those who are ready to receive her light.

She studied Ikebana with unusual passion and devotion, currently completing level 5, and will soon receive her Sogetsu school teacher certification, with the flower name Chī 椿愛.

She is also the logistics director of the Ikebana International Bucharest Association.

🌻We congratulate her wholeheartedly on her bright journey on the Flower Path, with joy every day!

🌻Camelia, about herself:

"Flowers have always been close to me, and for a few years I have started to see them not just as a fleeting beauty, but as a language through which a story can be told.

I work with pressed flowers, where the fragility of the petals becomes resistance over time. I like to create paintings, bookmarks and greeting cards that preserve the memory of a moment and transform it into a simple, yet emotional gift.

Ikebana is the other universe I find myself in. For me, it does not mean just a floral arrangement, but a form of balance, a silent dialogue between space, line and flower. In ikebana I discovered that both absence and emptiness can be full of meaning.

I like to think that there is a natural connection between pressed flowers and ikebana: both transform the ephemeral into artistic expression, preserving the beauty of nature in a new and surprising form.

Thus, each flower becomes a piece of art, a gesture of beauty that brings us closer to nature and its peace.”

Here is the link to her website: https://www.sufragericameliei.ro/

🪷MĂDĂLINA CEANGĂU is the one who will initiate us into the secrets of Sumi-e painting (Japanese-style ink painting).

🪷In the picture you can see her Sumi-e painting with our national flower, the peony, which she created with the aim of becoming the logo of our Association, Ikebana International Bucharest.

🪷Her Sumi-e workshop at the Bucharest Ikebana Festival (October 13-19, 2025, USAMVB, Bd. Mărăști 59) will be on October 18 at 4:00 PM.

For information and registration, please write to us at: ikebanaintlbucharest@yahoo.com

🪷Mădălina is the artistic director of our Ikebana International Bucharest Association, but more than that, she is a complex artist, whose sensitive soul vibrates in the delicate chords of traditional Japanese art, whether it is Ikebana, Sumi-e or the Haiku poem.

In recent years, she has followed the Ikebana Sogetsu certified course, and will soon receive her first Ikebana teacher diploma, with the flower name Reika 嶺花. We congratulate her wholeheartedly and wish her a peaceful journey, in the pure atmosphere of the heights where the flower of her soul resides🪷

🪷Her own words about herself:

”The fascination with Japanese culture began with a small step: the curious eyes of a child who was still not in school but who was looking at the time-blurred images of "different paintings" and the "pictures" of ladies with unusual hairstyles and "dresses", images stuck in what seemed to be a calendar-album. She found out that they were called prints and geisha and existed in a distant country, Japan.

The years disintegrated everything that had been palpable in the child's hands at that time, but the memory kept the spark. Stepping into adolescence, the search began: first there were colors. What did the stamps look like? How were they drawn?

Then came the words: the first authors of Japanese literature read... and haiku..

Settling on the thread of life after college, another search ... Kado. What could be more wonderful than flowers and color? Few resources and clumsy, but sincere floral arrangements. A stop on the path: what is it like to learn Japanese?

The meeting in 2019 with the one who will put in the hands of the eternal seeker, a real ikebanist scissors and a kenzan, Sanda Lazur.

The journey on the "Path of Flowers" continues today, together with sensei Florentina Vinica Barbu. Other open paths but, for the child who looked curiously at the images of "different paintings", each ikebana created represents a new beginning... And, along the way, she explores other worlds that enrich her knowledge: sumi-e.”

Florentina Vinica Barbu is the founder and president of the Association Ikebana International Bucharest Chapter #269.

Certified Ikebana teacher of the second degree Sanyo in the Sogetsu school, with the flower name 愛花 Aika (Flower of Love), conferred by her Ikebana teacher, Matsumura Rumiko Sensei (Riji).

PhD candidate in horticulture, member of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association and ISIR / International Society of Ikebana Research (you can find more information about her here).

Her workshop at the Bucharest Ikebana Festival will be on October 19, at 5:00 PM, with the theme: "Me in Ikebana - The Journey to Myself on the Path of Flowers"

Florentina teaches Ikebana classes and workshops under the Hana Kokoro 花こころ (Flower Heart) principle. In this program, participants learn the principles of Ikebana, but also become familiar with elements of Japanese culture, the history of Ikebana or Zen concepts.

“Kokoro こころ” is a Japanese word that reflects the idea of ​​the mind, spirit and soul as One, but also refers to the idea of ​​essence, wisdom, even sincerity. These nuances are lost in translation, the word usually being translated as “heart”.

The main elements of an Ikebana arrangement, Heaven, Man and Earth, describe our inner and outer Universe, contained in a vessel. Creating harmony in an Ikebana arrangement leads to its recreation in our soul. The most hidden treasures of the soul will thus be revealed. At the same time, the beauty and harmony of the flowers will transform our soul, and balance will be restored, inside and out. Sofu Teshigahara, the founder of the Sogetsu school, said: "Flowers become human in Ikebana." And we will have a flower soul.

We will try to discover the answer to the question "Who am I?" together, petal by petal, until we reach our flower soul.

The search for the ultimate essence of all things in this world leads finally to our Soul.