Lisa Taira has been practicing ikebana for almost 50 years, and her approach to this traditional Japanese flower arrangement artform has evolved over time.
She adheres to ikebana’s core principle — representing humanity, spirituality and nature through floral arrangement — but “then it’s my interpretation,” says Taira, who owns Kiyo’s Floral Design in Midtown Sacramento.
Curly willow branches and lily grass are central to Taira’s arrangements, due to their unique shape and flow. Taira began learning ikebana in fifth grade, when her Japan-born mother, Mutsuko Tokunaga enrolled her in weekly lessons to connect Taira to her heritage.
In 1976 her mother bought the florist shop, and the mother-daughter duo ran Kiyo’s together until Tokunaga retired in 2001 and Taira took over (her mother passed away in 2007). Today, Kiyo’s ikebana-inspired designs are the shop’s most popular type of floral arrangement.
Taira says she is inspired by the relationships she has built with customers over the past decades: “Each arrangement that I do is from my heart. I feel as if I’m the ambassador of all the people that order flowers here, because I know that there is meaning in everything that they send.”