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.
The most representative cerempnies featuring courtly artificial flowers are the called Go-sekku. The jinjitsu, Joshi, Tango, Shichiseki, and Choyo originally came from China and were ratified by the shogunate in 1616.