In celebration of the Ohara School’s 130th anniversary in 2025, Headquarters is holding a special Ikebana Photo Contest with the theme:

🌸 "Celebration Flowers" (お祝いの花) 🌸

This wonderful opportunity to showcase your creativity and love of Ohara Ikebana was announced in the March 2025 issue of Soka magazine. Whether it’s an arrangement for a joyous occasion, one that brings you a smile, or one you feel expresses a sense of celebration—your design is welcome!

Please refer to this link that includes information in English, published by the Ohara School, for full details:

『小原流挿花』いけばな写真コンテスト2025開催中 | いけばな小原流

Here's a summary:

Entry Period:
March 15 (Saturday) to June 20 (Friday), 2025

Eligibility:
Anyone studying Ohara Ikebana is eligible to enter. Children, junior high and high school students, and new learners are all welcome!

Theme:
"Celebration Flowers" (Oiwai no Hana)‍

Express joy, gratitude, and the spirit of celebration through your arrangement. There is no restriction on the style of arrangement—just focus on the feeling of celebration. You're encouraged to include a short message (100 characters or less) about what your work expresses.

Divisions

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How to Enter:

You may submit your entry one of three ways:

Instagram Option

1. You must follow the Ohara School’s official Instagram account: @ohararyusoka
2. Post your work with theses two hashtags   #小原流130周年　＃sokacontest2025
3. Include the comment “Celebrating the 130th Anniversary of the Ohara School”
   (at least 100 characters in Japanese, or the English equivalent)

Web Form Option

Submit your photo (JPEG format, 350dpi, approx. 2067px on the longest side)

• Name, location, title, and 100-character message via the online entry form.

‍Email Option

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🏆 Judging & Recognition:
Two judges (Hiroki Ohara, Headmaster and Ryuko, Director) will select outstanding works and provide comments.
The work must showcase the feeling/sentiment of celebrating the 130 year anniversary. The comment is a part of this requirement.
Results will be published in the September 2025 Ohara School Flower Arrangement issue of Ohara-ryu Soka magazine.

📌 A Few Notes:

• You can submit up to 3 original works.
• Creation and photographing must be done by the applicant alone.
• Works must not have been published before.
• If people are shown in the photo, you’ll need to have their permission to submit the photo and be published if selected as a winner.
• The work must not be applied to any other contest.
• Awarded works belong to Ohara School. Ohara School has a right to use the work in publications, advertisement or homepage without any compensation to the applicant.

For questions, please email henshu@ohararyu.or.jp with the Subject "Reader Contest"

Let’s show the world the beauty of Ohara Ikebana and celebrate this milestone together!

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Please Note:
Every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information about the Ohara 130th Anniversary Photo Contest. If any corrections or clarifications are shared with me, I will update this post accordingly. For that reason, I recommend checking this page again before submitting your entry.

If you have specific questions, please contact Ohara Headquarters directly.

This page was last updated on March 22, 2025.

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Joe Rotella
Associate Second Term Master
Ohara School of Ikebana