"This ... book was the first glimpse most Westerners had of the Japanese art of ikebana. ... Conder was a British architect invited to Japan at the end of the nineteenth century to help create Japan's first Western-style buildings. [He] remained there for the rest of his life ... Conder's classic text ... has a great deal to say not only about ikebana but about Japan's sense of ceremony and custom. ..."--Book jacket.