Making Artificial Cherry Blossom, Artificial flowers

The history of artificial flower-making in Japan goes back to the 8th century, when a poem in the Man yoshu anthology contains a poem apparently referring to such flowers. In the Heian period (794-1 1 85) artificial flowers were made of thread and cloth as a part of seasonal court events. The head of the Unjo-ryu； the final school to carry on this tradition, is located in Kyoto.
Hand-dyed silk is pasted on Japanese paper (washi), and after this has been dozens of times, it is cut into the shapes flower petals. When cutting the petals, care is taken that they are not all the same size, which is another feature of the Unjo-ryu style.
When a cloth that has been dyed a faint cherry pink and cut out in the shape of a flower is heated with a smoothing iron, the result is a beautifully soft petal with a slight swelling. Two types of smoothing iron are available depending on the effect one is striving for.