Students of a leading Japanese flower arrangement school have celebrated the New Year in Kyoto.
The annual ceremony at the Ikenobo school is said to date back to the Muromachi period that spanned the 14th to the 16th centuries.
About 800 students from across the country took part on Monday.
The event started with young practitioners visiting the Rokkakudo temple, the birthplace of Japanese floral art.
After moving to a nearby workshop, students arranged flowers with technical advice from Ikenobo Senko, the next headmaster of the school.
She also demonstrated her art using willow and pine branches, as well as other materials. She said she expressed hope that people can think positively about various things even under difficult circumstances.
A university student from Chiba Prefecture said she was happy to be able to produce arrangements the way she wanted.
She said that as she will start working this spring, she put a young pine high and straight in the hope of growing tough.
A fifth grader from Tokyo said she was a little nervous, and she arranged flowers while praying for another good year.
AloJapan.com