"寺院で法要を執り行うとき、諸仏を供養するために屋根の上から蓮の花がまかれることを散華といいます。元々は生花が使われていましたが、いつの頃からか蓮をかたどった色紙が代わりに用いられるようになりました。その多くは蓮の花びらを模していますが、「まわり花」は、まかれると一輪の花となって空中で咲きはじめます。回転から生まれる残像により平面を三次元に見せていく仕組みです。折りの構造は、手順通りに折り畳めば誰でも簡単につくれるように配慮しました。紙である散華を本物の花のように立体的にしてみたのは、ありがたさやめでたさを、より生き生きとした体験として感じてもらえると考えたからです。「まわり花」は試作にとどまらず、2018年10月に行われた興福寺中金堂落慶法要のための散華として、実際に散布されました。

Sange is the Buddhist ritual of scattering lotus blossoms from a temple roof to pay respect to those who have attained Buddhahood during services at temples. Originally, real flowers were used in the ceremony, but at some point in the past they were replaced by colored paper in the shape of lotus petals. Most of these paper versions are modelled after lotus petals, but “flowering in the air” turns into a flower, blooming in midair when it is thrown. It is designed so that the afterimage produced when it spins creates the appearance of a three-dimensional flower. Care has been given to ensure that it can be easily made by anyone, simply by folding it in the proper sequence. Misawa designed these paper sange to generate a three-dimensional image similar to a real flower because she wanted people to experience a sense of gratitude and celebration in a more vibrant way. “flowering in the air” is not just a prototype. The flowers have already been scattered as sange for the Buddhist service during the celebration of the reconstruction of the Central Golden Hall at Kofuku-ji Temple on October 2018.