As I was clearing and bundling the dry rice straws, my palms began to feel smooth. And as I
rubbed my hands together, the smoky feeling that had taken over my body slipped away, reminding
me of the time when my grandfather collapsed.
It was a striking encounter with straw for me as a schoolgirl in the early 1950s. When a thick straw
mattress, like a low bed, was prepared, my grandmother said that she would use it as a bed to
prevent chafing, and put it on the windowsill to air out while my grandfather went for a walk with his
walking stick for support.
These rice straws, arranged in brand new bamboo containers, were one day handed to me after
being passed from person to person. They are a pair of ikebana of the ears of rice, which were
mentioned in a column posted last October. Once the ears of rice are threshed, they are
appreciated on our dining tables as food, but the leaves and stalks that support them are often
forgotten. Thus, like this, as a flower for the New Year, I would instead like to reevaluate the
importance and value of rice straw by revering its flowers.

Materials used in the flower arrangement
Rice straw (from Eco Farm Okuno), longleaf pine, ornamental cabbage, chrysanthemum, coral
bush, and kumquat
Base
Young bamboo (cut as cylindrical containers)
Hanging artwork
Drawing: nau (twining) by Kuniko Donen