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All New Pipes
Tsuge Ikebana Pipes
9 TotalThe legendary Ikebana has been referred for decades as 'The Flowers of the Pipe World', an apt plaudit; the literal translation of the word "Ikebana" means 'living flowers', and refers to the highest form of Japanese flower arrangement. Spiritually, the practice and presentation of an Ikebana arrangement is said to instill silence, an appreciation of things in nature that people often overlook because of their busy lives, and to promote the ability to cultivate beauty in all art forms. In the pipe world, every Ikebana briar is handcrafted by masters to be as beautiful and singular as a rare orchid.
For decades, the Ikebana workshop was led by Kazuhiro Fukuda, a former Tsuge craftsman who was sent to Denmark in the '60s and learned artisan pipe making from Sixten Ivarsson. Such newfound processes and techniques led to the inception of Ikebana. Since 2013, the workshop has mainly comprised three distinctive artisans — master Fukuda, Asami Kikuchi, and Yoshirou Ohi — each crafting pipes in their own individual style but all sharing the Ikebana name, a bouquet of pipes befitting the workshop's namesake. In the time since, however, Ohi has moved on, and Fukuda officially retired in 2024, leaving Kikuchi as Ikebana's sole artisan.
As a pipe maker, Kikuchi is celebrated for her precision and design versatility: Much of her work follows two distinctive motifs — either softly curved, robust forms or those marked by svelte lines and slender proportions. Wonderfully crafted to maximize briar's natural beauty and fitted to comfortable, hand-cut vulcanite stems, Kikuchi's pipes continue to uphold and elevate the Ikebana name.
