In bloom: Yoji Kobayashi's simple floral designs give much thought to the placement of each flower. Photos provided to Shanghai Star

In some of his works, the multi-colored or parti-colored flowers are completely absent, as they sometimes appear "too noisy", while various shades and shapes of green play a bigger role. Some books classify Japanese, or more broadly, oriental floral design, as "line arrangement", in contrast with Western-style flower arrangements, featuring mass use of colors and types of flowers.

At his home in Tokyo, he rarely displays flowers, keeping potted plants for decoration instead.

And as for the drums? "I usually play piano now," he says.

Advice from Kobayashi for floral design at home

Keep it simple when it comes to home décor.

Pick one favorite part of your house, say the color of the wall or the patterns of your curtain and develop your flower design from that.

Make it as natural as possible. Do not over-decorate.

Invest more on flowers and plants than on decorations.

Keep your flowers away from strong sunshine or air-conditioning.

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