Ikenobo is the oldest and largest Ikebana school in the world. This school has existed for more than 550 years and marks the beginning of the construction of the Rokkaku-dō temple in Kyoto. This temple was built in 587 by Prince Shōtoku, who was looking for a place to practice Buddhism at a pond in Kyoto. In the 7th century, Ono-no-Imoko, an official envoy, brought the practice of placing Buddhist flowers on an altar from China to Japan. He became a priest in the temple and spent the rest of his life arranging flowers. The original priests of the temple lived on the edge of the pond, for which the Japanese word Ike 池, Bō 坊, connected by the particle no の makes the word Ikenobō 池 坊, priest of the pond. The name Ikenobō, granted by the emperor, became attached to these priests who specialized in altar arrangements.
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