The Japanese house at The Huntington contains two tokonoma. The ikebana students take turns creating arrangements -- usually one nageire and one shoka or moribana -- for the Japanese house.

A tokonoma is a small raised alcove in a Japanese-style room with a tatami floor, where decorative scrolls are hung. Ikebana (arranged flowers) and/or bonsai are also often displayed there. The tokonoma and its contents are essential elements of traditional Japanese interior decoration.

When seating guests in a Japanese-style room, the correct etiquette is to seat the most important guest with his or her back facing the tokonoma. This is because of modesty; the host should not be seen to show off the contents of the tokonoma to the guest, and thus it is necessary not to point the guest towards the tokonoma.