KARACHI, Feb 9: Speakers at a function on Saturday said the love of nature and flowers was shared by the peoples of both Japan and Pakistan.

Speaking at the certificate-awarding ceremony of the 59th batch of Ikebana Classes, organized by the Japan Cultural Centre, they said though Ikebana was a traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement, it was very popular in Pakistan also.

Japanese Consul General Kazumi Dekiba said when he came here nearly three years back, he did not know that traditional cultural elements such as Ikebana, Haiku and Waka poetry were so popular here.

He said now when he was leaving for his next assignment soon, he was happy that during his tenure the popularity of these arts had grown further. He said this was probably his last Ikebana function that he was attending here.

Later, chief guest IG Syed Kamal Shah gave away prizes to the winners — Sadia Saeed, Ishrat Javed, Babra Saquib, Zenia Anklesaria, Ambreena Wahab, Shazia Nizami and Farzana Akhlaq.