1,400 years ago in Kyoto, the Regent Prince Shotoku was going to bathe in a pond.  He took out a statue of Kannon from his kimono and placed it by a tree.  He finished bathing, and put on his kimono, but he found out that the statue had implanted itself where he had placed it.  Shotoku thought, "This is a message from Kannon."  He built a hexagonal shape temple over the Kannon statue.  His cousin, Onono Imoko was appointed the head priest of the temple.  He started ikebana and became the ancestor of all 45 Ikenobo head masters to present.

An ikebana arrangement, candle stand and incense holder are called the Three Tool Decoration for the alter of Buddha.  Later on ikebana developed its own status as arranged flower for other purposes.  Because this temple was built by the pond, it was called IKE (pond) NO (by) BO (temple).  This was the origin of Ikenobo ikebana.  Although other schools have branched off from Ikenobo in the last 500 years, Ikenobo is the original style of ikebana.  The history of Ikenobo is the history of ikebana.

Rikka Shofutai by Sen'ei Ikenobo, 45th generation Ikenobo Headmaster