Encyclopedia of Flowers vol. V by Azuma Makoto & Shunsuke Shiinoki

This is the fifth volume in the Encyclopedia of Flowers series, the life’s work of Azuma Makoto and Shunsuke Shiinoki. The size and content have been renewed.

This book, which Azuma Makoto and Shunsuke Shiinoki have been working on as their life’s work, has been published in two-year cycles, and now marks its fifth volume. This issue contains 114 pieces created from autumn 2019 to August 2021.

This period coincided with the historic pandemic, and the two artists continued to ask themselves what they could do for people during this time, and continued to arrange flowers.

It was during this time that they came across a book that described the roots of traditional Japanese ikebana. What was written in the book was about the monks who brought flowers to the many lives lost in the famine, and revived the hearts of the people by arranging flowers. The power of awakening, that is the essence of flower arranging. This book contains a wish for the awakening of the heart, even in the midst of a time of suffering.

Book design: Kenya Hara