Japan's traditional, female-dominated art of flower arranging is returning to its masculine roots, for an entirely¹ modern reason: it's become a way for male employees to prune² away their stress.

日本女性主导的传统插花艺术如今正向其男性源头回归。而其回归的原因则十分“现代”：插花成为男性排解工作压力的一种方式。

Japan's traditional, female-dominated art of flower arranging is returning to its masculine roots, for an entirely modern reason: it's become a way for male employees to prune away their stress.

Ikebana花道，插花, or "the way of flowers," dates back回溯，追溯 more than 500 years and first blossomed among male artisans and aristocrats³贵族.

Aimed at creating harmony between man and nature as well as heightening the appreciation⁴ of the rhythms节奏，韵律 of the universe, arrangements are conducted in silence using only organic elements put together in a minimalist极简抽象派艺术家 style.

And it's this creativity and spirituality that has attracted thousands of Japanese men to reclaim⁵ the art form that has more recently been associated with women.

"Nowadays there are a lot of people seeking something that makes them feel at ease安逸，舒适," said Gaho Isono, a master ikebana instructor⁶ at Sogetsu, founded in 1927 and one of the first schools to offer flower arranging courses to men.

"There are many hobbies people can do now and there's no longer the preconception偏见 that men cannot arrange flowers. They are free to choose whatever they like and the number of men choosing flowers is actually increasing."

Japanese society has traditionally put much emphasis on hard work and employees regularly put in long hours in the office, which increases the risk of depression, mental health organizations say.

The nation, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, even has a term for death by overwork -- karoshi过劳死 -- making stress-relieving activities such as ikebana all the more popular.

Flower compositions arranged according to the traditional principles of ikebana are said to represent the relationship between heaven, mankind and earth.

There are an estimated 3,000 ikebana schools across Japan with some 15 million enthusiasts⁷狂热者，热心家, most of whom see flower arrangement as an antidote⁸解毒剂，解药 to their hectic兴奋的，狂热的 lives.

"Each time when the class starts at first I feel tired from work," said male student Koji Takahashi, 45.

Some men have spent years mastering the art form and now teach new students the therapeutic治疗的 effects of ikebana.