Searching for the Origins of Kado
Kado, according to some authorities, has been practiced for more than 600 years. It is thought to have developed from Buddhist rituals involving the offering of flowers, which can be traced to the sixth century introduction of Buddhism to Japan. Part of the worship involved the presentation of flowers on an altar in honor of Buddha. In India, the birthplace of Buddhism, flowers were placed rather informally, and sometimes only petals were strewn about. Nevertheless, by the tenth century, the Japanese were presenting their alms in containers. Altar offerings were the responsibility of temple priests, and by the middle of the fifteenth century, with the rise of classical styles of ikebana, kado was an art form independent of its religious origins, though it retained strong symbolic and spiritual aspects. Accordingly, the first teachers and students of the classical systems were priests and members of the nobility. Yet, in time, many different schools arose, styles changed, and kado came to be practiced by people from other levels of Japanese society.

Ikenobo, the oldest school of kado, stems from a priest of the Rokkakudo temple in Kyoto, who was so expert in flower arrangement that other priests sought him out for training. As he lived by the side of a pond ("ikenobo"), this name was associated with the Rokkakudo priests who specialized in altar arrangements.

The Development of Schools of Flower Arrangement
Systems and styles evolved over generations, so that by the late fifteenth century, arrangements were common enough to be appreciated by ordinary people, not just the Japanese nobility and priests. This epoch marks the beginning of an art form/spiritual path with fixed principles. Texts recording these often secret principles and discoveries were written. The oldest is the Sendensho, a compilation covering the years from 1443 to 1536.

As time passed, kado became a major part of traditional festivals, and ikebana exhibitions were held regularly. Rules were prescribed, and materials had to be combined in specific ways. In these early forms, a tall upright central stem had to be accompanied by two shorter stems; the three stems represented heaven, humanity, and earth. Specific Japanese names for these three elements differed, and frequently continue to differ, among kado systems. In 1545, the Ikenobo School, now well established, formulated the principles of rikka arrangements by naming the seven main branches used in that type of method.

The Evolution of Rikka
As far back as the birth of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603), various distinct schools were developing as the practice of flower arranging became more wide spread. Just as in the martial arts, each system has its own unique traditions and areas of particular importance. Some schools stressed the rikka, or formal "standing" style, which is the original type of early floral art, and which features very tall arrangements that seem to point toward heaven. Rikka first appeared in the sixth century in floral groupings on both sides of the altars found in Buddhist temples.