This is an arrangement that I put together for my direct pupils' Concluding Lesson of the Year.

　　The shape of the vase symbolizing 'future increase', I chose the vessel as an expression of the auspiciousness of our all having been able to conclude this year without untoward event. As its lip flares, I employed an ironwork kettle-lid-rest in the form of three hermits with linked hands as the device by which to keep the flowers standing in place.

　　The narcissus lends grace, while the twig of allspice alludes to the cold of the winter to come.

　　As to how much water to add to the arrangement, unlike the large flat vessels used in summer to suggest cooling pools, which are filled to the brim, the season being a chilly one I have deliberately limited the quantity so as to leave the meniscus inconspicuously somewhat below the lip of the vessel.