Aya Tanaka

She is an ikebana artist and floral designer based in London.
She is also an ikebana professor authorised by the Kyoto Headquarters of the Ikenobo Ikebana Arts Association, the top Ikebana school in Japan.
She offers Japanese flower arranging, "ikebana" as well as Western flower styles.

Her recent work includes boutique show window decorations in the Knightsbridge area, where its famous department store Harrods is located, installations in an art gallery, and ikebana demonstrations commissioned by companies and organisations in London. And overseas, she had Ikebana lectures and workshops sponsored by the Department of Japanese Language, University of Warsaw, Poland.

She has been involved in flowers for over 20 years, but she used to work for a major financial company in Tokyo. She was very busy with her work in the financial district lined with office buildings every day, and at that time, she came across flower design and soon realised that it was her passion. She was healed by touching the flowers in the hustle and bustle of the city and found the purpose of her life.

After a while, despite the people's surprises, she decided to leave her company. Soon later moved to London. She was fortunate to meet and be taught by a significant European flower artist, including Gregor Lersch of Germany. And as a freelance flower designer, she worked in excellent flower decoration for ten years at London's top restaurants, boutiques and old castles, including London's 5-star hotels.

As her stay in London became longer, she became more and more asked about Japanese culture and aesthetics by people of various professions and began to look at her homeland Japan objectively. And she decided to introduce "Ikebana", traditional Japanese culture and the tea ceremony to the world's people.