This beautiful and charming book is the first glimpse that Western readers ever had into the Japanese art of ikebana. This beautiful and informative book was the first glimpse most Westerners ever had of the Japanese art of ikebana. Its author, Josiah Conder, was a British architect invited to Japan at the end of the nineteenth century to help create Japan's first Western-style buildings. Conder remained there for the rest of his life, and his love of the country and its culture inspired him to undertake years of study of Japanese Painting, gardens, and flower