The left side Ikebana arrangement shown above is made by a student of
California Flower Art Academy. The picture of right side is from Wikipedia. We picked up above arrangements only because it is easy to find "Kenzan" and "Suiban" actually used for Ikebana Arrangement. (For details about these terminologies, continue reading). Ikebana arrangement uses different type of tools as shown below. The left one below is called FLORAL FOAM (famous brand is "OASIS") which is used for European or American style of floral arrangements. The center one (below) is what is called "Kenzan" used for Japanese Ikebana Arrangement. This is also called Needle Point Holder. If the word of "Kenzan" is written in Chinese character, it means "Sword Mountain". There are so many needles mounted on the iron pad which is so heavy and good for holding flowers/flower stems. In the case of Floral Foam, it is made of chemical stuff and easy to use. Stems of flowers can be easily inserted into Floral Foam. The right one below is called "Suiban" which is a flat type container used for Ikebana Arrangement.