Since the beginning of Ikebana, the practitioners of the art were mainly male. However a sweeping change occurred when the Meiji government (1868-1912) adopted ikebana as part of the curriculum for girls' education. Ikebana was regarded as a female social grace before marriage until the 1960s.

Today there are more than three hundred schools of ikebana in Japan with many overseas branches and international students. These institutions include a broad range of aesthetic, expressive, and conceptual styles encompassing the more traditional ikebana to the modern contemporary curriculums like those of Sogetsu ikebana.

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