The Katayama School of Keido was established to promote Japanese sensibilities through artful displays in traditional tokonoma utilizing various techniques of open space. A tokonoma is an alcove for displaying art in a room for receiving and entertaining guests. This school was established in 1986 by Katayama Teiichi (1908-1996), whose artist name was Katayama Ichiu. He graduated from Tokyo Senior School of Gardening at the age of 34 and then spent several years learning to play the shamisen while pursing multiple interests in singing and raising goldfish and birds. In 1965, he began a ten-year relationship with Yoshimura Toshiji who was one of the founders of Kofu-En, a leading bonsai nursery that specialized in satsuki azaleas. During this time, Katayama advanced his knowledge of bonsai, and learned suiseki and display techniques. It was also in 1965 that Katayama established a club, the Ichiu-kai, to develop and pursue his style of suiseki display. This club held their first exhibition in Tokyo in 1967. The Ichiu-kai held additional exhibitions in 1971 and 1978. In 1982, the club began staging an annual exhibition which continued through 1992. His first book was Suiseki-no-Kansho or Appreciation of Suiseki which was published in 1971.

His keen interest in Japanese art and culture likely helped him to prepare for his leading role in promoting methods of displays that appealed to the Japanese sense of beauty, refined elegance, and subtle beauty. He may have incorporated elements borrowed from the traditional tea ceremony developed by the 16th century tea master Sen no Rikyu who introduced the concept of wabi into the tea ceremony. These earlier practices that lead to the evolution of the Japanese aesthetic must have influenced Katayama when he was developing his philosophy and methods of displaying bonsai, suiseki, and certain wild plants in a tokonoma.

The word keido was coined by Katayama for the techniques of using open space in a tokonoma for artful displays. He considers the tokonoma to be a semi-sacred space where one can convey the feeling of the four seasons through the display of selected objects—scrolls, flowering arrangements, metal castings, bonsai, suiseki, and other related items. Katayama’s main focus was on the display of bonsai, wildflowers and grasses, and suiseki. Katayama Ichiu developed sets of rules for the display of these objects. For example, he states that bonsai should always be right- or left-handed and that this directional nature of the tree guides it placement and the placements of any other objects used in a tokonoma display.



He claims that the dignity of the tokonoma displays can be maintained by following certain rules associated with the display of scrolls. It is acceptable to use a scroll as long as the scroll does not compete with the primary object of display. A scroll should have a simple subject and have pale or more subtle colors so it has a subordinate yet complementary role in the display. Katayama believes scrolls used in keido displays should have a causal format with narrow margins. However, a more elaborate scroll can be used in tokonoma when it is the primary object in a display. In this case, it may be accompanied by an accessory item or small plant.



Seasonality is important in the Katayama school of display. Tokonoma displays should be changed to reflect the seasons—spring, summer, fall, and winter. He also recognizes the use of suitable displays to celebrate the New Year. Selecting the suitable components for each seasonal display can be a challenge for Western students of keido. Fortunately, Katayama provided many fine examples of displays for each season in his classes and books. Some of his students became leaders in the Japanese bonsai and suiseki communities. These include Kobayashi Kunio, Sudo Uhaku, Takahashi Teisuke, and Kobayashi Fumiyuki.



The choice of trees and flowers in seasonal displays is easier than the selection of stones. Flowering trees such as plums and cherries best represent spring especially when combined with a suitable scroll or accessories. A simple scroll featuring a migrating bird species that arrived in spring is a good companion piece to a flowering cherry. Whereas a scroll featuring a flock of migrating geese is best suited for an autumn display. Dormant deciduous trees without foliage best represent the winter months. This is just touching lightly on the surface of the process of selecting the best elements for the seasons.



Most suiseki depend upon the accompanying items—scroll, display table, and accessory—to determine the season. Waterfall stones are more likely to represent spring and early summer when the flow is at its peak. The use of a stone on a display table with a bamboo motif is better suited for a summer display and in the winter mountain shaped stones can be display as well as in other seasons. Seasonal tokonoma displays are best suited for displays in homes.



A careful examination of the tokonoma displays featuring susieki in Katayama’s teaching books reveals his strong preference for the use of suiban and doban. None of his tokonoma displays included a stone in a hand-carved wood base (daiza). In addition to being a persuasive teacher, Katayama was a keen businessman who sold stones, suiban, doban and accessories to collectors. These were the items that he utilized in his displays and encouraged others to use.



Katayama held irregularly scheduled classes in his home in the Sendagi district of Tokyo. Several stone hobbyists gathered in his home to discuss and learn display techniques from him. According to information supplied by his son, Yoshimasa, his father taught from his home, as he had no official school building from which to teach, until later in his career. He would meet with his students once or twice a month in his home. The senior Katayama was a friend with the younger Sudo Uhaku who often came to Katayama’s home. At some point, Katayama began teaching his display techniques at Sudo’s studio in Tochigi, a city north of Tokyo, and taught there for five years. This could have coincided with formal establishment of Katayama’s school of keido. According to Sen-En-Kyo’s book, Suiseki II, An Art Created by Nature (2007), Katayama formally established the Keido Katayama style in 1986. Apparently, this was done in cooperation with Sudo, as Sudo’s address in Tochigi was given in the three publications.



In 1993, three years before his death, Katayama served as the editor of Ichiu-kai Suiseki Catalogue (Quintessence of Suiseki Display). This large format volume featured an exhibition of stones owned by various members of his Ichiu-kai club. His club attracted many students, likely due to the appeal of the displays, his effective teaching skills, and his knowledge of Japanese arts and culture. I am not aware that any non-Japanese foreign students studied keido with Katayama.



After his death, one of his students, Sudo Uhaku, continued the Katayama school of keido. Sudo assumed the name Katayama Ichiu 2nd for a while before reverting back to his original name. Sudo maintained that keido pursues dignity, grace, and artistic style; therefore, to expose beauty a display should be based on refined aesthetics, feelings, and taste. The practice of keido became a structured ritualistic practice under Sudo’s tenure. A clear mind, mediation, and contemplation became requirements for the preparation of an acceptable tokonoma display. A few stone enthusiasts from the United States studied with Sudo for very short periods of time, ranging from one to five days. The school was disbanded after several years. Regardless, Katayama has had a strong influence on the methods of display for bonsai and suiseki. His rules have appealed to some foreign students of bonsai and suiseki because they are more explicit and represent a departure from the traditional Japanese aesthetic where vagueness, subtleness, and ambiguity are the norm. Katayama brought order and direction to the Japanese suiseki community and provided a strong foundation for the next generation of suiseki leaders in Japan.