New Year 2023 & 63rd Anniversary Celebration: When Friends Gather
New Year 2023 & 61st Anniversary Celebration: When Friends Gather
We celebrate 2023 New Year and our 61st Anniversary on January 20th at noon at the County Fair Building, Golden Gate Park. Please join with friends old and new to wish everyone a New Year. The demonstration will be by our School Advisors. Cake and a party punch drink will be served at this special occasion.
Kayoko Suiyo Fujimoto (Ohara) began studying ikebana in high school and received her instructor’s certificate for Ohara Ikebana in 1952. She currently holds the Grand Master certificate. She has distinguished herself not only in her local ikebana activities but has been recognized by the Emperor of Japan in 2010 with the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Golden and Silver Rays for her outstanding service to ikebana and promoting the traditional culture of Japan. Fujimoto Sensei had the rarified lifetime membership awarded to her by the Ohara School and received the Bunka Hall of Fame induction for her contributions to Japanese ikebana and enhancing community relations. She is a charter member and founder of Ohara Ikebana School of Northern California Chapter (where she currently serves as Advisor after serving as President for 30 years) and charter member of ITF. She has been a long-time active member of I.I. Fujimoto Sensei continues to actively teach, demonstrate and exhibit.
Fusako Seiga Hoyrup (Wafu) is the founder and President of the California Chapter of the Wafu School of Ikebana, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020. She began her study of ikebana over 60 years ago in Japan under the 2nd Headmaster. She holds the Shukan Degree, the highest achievement level in the Wafu school. Hoyrup Sensei has received numerous awards and commendations throughout the years. To cite just a few of these awards, she was inducted into the Bunka Hall of Fame in 2010 for her excellence and contribution to ikebana. In 2015, the Consul General of Japan San Francisco awarded her an official commendation for her work promoting cultural relations and friendship between Japan and California. In 2019, Hoyrup Sensei received the most prestigious Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays award which was conferred upon her by the government and Emperor of Japan for her contributions to the promotion of Japanese culture in the USA and abroad. Hoyrup Sensei has taught, demonstrated and exhibited throughout the world and is still active today.
Sumi Metz (Aratame) has studied and taught ikebana for more than 45 years. She has a deep understanding of ikebana traditions while exceeding those boundaries to interpret ikebana in purely contemporary works which reflect and complement modern life. Sumi’s ikebana has a joyful personality which always speaks to the viewer. Her formal ikebana studies began in the Wafu School for nearly three decades earning her the Gakukan degree in 2000. In 2000, Aratame Headmaster Seigyo Aratame invited Sumi to join his young Aratame school which was founded in 1993. She joined as his assistant and was soon named President of Aratame. She joined I.I. in 1980 and has served on the board of directors several times; currently chairing our Ways and Means tables. Sumi demonstrates and exhibits for I.I. as well as businesses, schools and other organizations in the Bay Area. Her work has been displayed locally and internationally.
Joan Yusui Suzuki (Sogetsu) began her study of ikebana in Tokyo and received her first teaching certificate at the age of 16. After her return to the US, in 1953 she began teaching in San Francisco and also assisted her mother, Shunei Uchida who introduced Sogetsu to the Bay Area. She was the first Sogetsu Advisor for SF BA Chapter #31. In 1968 Mrs. Suzuki was awarded the Model Teacher Award (Mohan-Sho) and in 1973 Sofu Teshigahara, Sogetsu's Founding Headmaster, conferred the highest rank of the school, Riji, on her. Suzuki Sensei was inducted into the Bunka Hall of Fame in 2012 for her contribution to Ikebana and in 2016 received a commendation from Consul General of Japan, Jun Yamada and in 2019 received a commendation from Taro Kono, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Japan, in recognition for contribution and promoting friendship between the U.S. and Japan through ikebana. In 2017 she received the Overseas Honor Award from the Sogetsu School. Suzuki Sensei is a charter member of I.I. Chapter 31 and advisor; charter member of ITF and Past President; Director Emeritus for Sogetsu SF Bay Area Branch and active teacher and demonstrator locally and out-of-state.
Sandra Hatcher (Ikenobo) began her study of Ikenobo in 1994 after moving to Sacramento. She was the first recipient of the Ikenobo Ikebana Northern California Scholarship which was established in 2006 for independent advanced study at Ikenobo headquarters in Kyoto. In 2018 she was accepted to study at the Ikenobo Chuo Kenshu Gakuin in Kyoto. She is currently attending classes as a member of the first English speaking class designed to advance the study of Ikenobo. She has participated in the Ikenobo Study Tour in Kyoto, Japan seven times. She is a Senior Professor of Ikenobo (Fukusokatoku). Currently she serves as 2nd Vice President of the Ikenobo Ikebana Northern California Chapter, is Directory and Newsletter Chair for Ikebana International San Francisco and is a member of the Ikebana Teachers Federation. Her passion is “education” with the goal to promote ikebana and advance her knowledge. She teaches in Sacramento and Reno.
