An art essentially Japanese is that of flower arrangement. In its origin it is closely related to the _Cha-no-yu_, or Tea Ceremonial, which developed into a cult during the Shōgunate of Ashikaga Yoshimasa in the fifteenth century. This cult, which was founded on the four cardinal virtues of urbanity, courtesy, purity, and imperturbability, has been a mighty force in holding the Japanese true to a high standard in matters of taste, by combining “æsthetic eclecticism of the most fastidious nature with the severest canons of simplicity and austerity.” The end has been achieved not so much by the elaborate code as through what it stands for; the ceremony being in reality a gathering of connoisseurs to view works of art, each of which to win favor must meet the requirements of the most exacting taste. Out of the æsthetic necessity of making fitting disposition of the flowers introduced into the tea-room, grew the art of _Ike-bana_, or flower arrangement. This has gradually come to have an elaborate code of its own, and several distinct “schools” have arisen. In a general way it may be said that the art consists in arranging flowers with regard to harmonious composition of line, while keeping in mind certain poetic analogies which must not be violated, and the appearance of vitality and natural growth. Here, again, the principles of composition in painting find their application. Still another application is found in landscape gardening, which in the hands of the Japanese is also a fine art. This too has its different “schools” and its special code of rules, formulated during the many centuries of development at the hands of successive generations of artists. Japan is, in truth, a shining example of the essential unity of all the arts, and illustrates admirably the truth of the old saying, _Natura artis magister_ (Nature the mistress of art). Unfortunately, what has been said in this chapter applies more to Old Japan than to the Japan of to-day. Modern Japan, whether rightly or wrongly, is becoming tired of being praised for æsthetic excellence, and is more anxious to be appraised and appreciated for its material, social, commercial, and political “progress.” To the cultivated Japanese, who regard art as the highest outcome and flowering of civilization, this tendency is not encouraging. And as to the future of Japanese art, its perpetuation must come from excluding rather than attempting to amalgamate Western ideas. In the impressive words of Okakura, the outcome will be “victory from within, or a mighty death without.” BIBLIOGRAPHY. _Painting_: “The Pictorial Arts of Japan” (Anderson); “Catalogue of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum” (Anderson); “The Painters of Japan” (Morrison).