Ko

Ko, one of the four major schools of floral art in Japan. Dating from the Tokugawa period (1603–1868), the Ko school developed the shōka style of the earlier Ikenobō school into a more naturalistic type of arrangement. Calling the arrangements seika rather than shōka, the Ko school retained the tall, narrow-mouthed type of vase used in the shōka arrangements of the Ikenobō school. The mood of the arrangements was known as nageire, a fresh and spontaneous style that adheres only loosely to the classical rules of structure.