Japan's traditional, female-dominated art of flower arranging is returning to its masculine roots, for an entirely modern reason: it's become a way for male employees to prune away their stress.

Ikebana, or "the way of flowers," dates back more than 500 years and first blossomed among male artisans and aristocrats.

Aimed at creating harmony between man and nature as well as heightening the appreciation of the rhythms of the universe, arrangements are conducted in silence using only organic elements put together in a minimalist style.

And it's this creativity and spirituality that has attracted thousands of Japanese men to reclaim the art form that has more recently been associated with women.

"Nowadays there are a lot of people seeking something that makes them feel at ease," said Gaho Isono, a master ikebana instructor at Sogetsu, founded in 1927 and one of the first schools to offer flower arranging courses to men.

"There are many hobbies people can do now and there's no longer the preconception that men cannot arrange flowers. They are free to choose whatever they like and the number of men choosing flowers is actually increasing."

Japanese society has traditionally put much emphasis on hard work and employees regularly put in long hours in the office, which increases the risk of depression, mental health organizations say.

The nation, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, even has a term for death by overwork -- karoshi -- making stress-relieving activities such as ikebana all the more popular.

Flower compositions arranged according to the traditional principles of ikebana are said to represent the relationship between heaven, mankind and earth.

There are an estimated 3,000 ikebana schools across Japan with some 15 million enthusiasts, most of whom see flower arrangement as an antidote to their hectic lives.

"Each time when the class starts at first I feel tired from work," said male student Koji Takahashi, 45.

Some men have spent years mastering the art form and now teach new students the therapeutic effects of ikebana.

日本女性主导的传统插花艺术如今正向其男性源头回归。而其回归的原因则十分“现代”：插花成为男性排解工作压力的一种方式。

日本“花道”可追溯到500多年前，最初在男性工匠和贵族中流行。

花道旨在加深人们对宇宙韵律的感受，创造人与自然的和谐，插花者以简约为道，采有机素材为原料，在默然之间形成花之道。

正是花道的这种创造性和灵性吸引了日本成千上万的男性重拾这一近代以来以女性为主导的艺术形式。

创建于1927年的“草月流”插花学校的花道大师矶野雅邦说：“当今社会，很多人都在寻求能让自己身心放松的东西。” 草月流花道学校是最早面向男性开设插花课程的学校之一。

“现在人们可以有很多爱好，而且认为男性不应该从事花道的观念也不复存在。他们可以自由选择自己的爱好，而选择花道的男性数量其实正在上升。”

心理健康组织说，强调努力工作是日本社会的一大传统，人们一天的大部分时间都在办公室里度过，从而增加了患抑郁症的风险。

日本是世界上自杀率最高的国家之一，甚至还出现了一个形容过度工作而致死的词汇——“过劳死”，这让类似花道的减压活动更受欢迎。

据说，根据花道传统原则插出的花束象征着天、人、地之间的关系。

目前，日本全国估计有三千家插花学校和约1500万名插花爱好者，他们中的大部分人都将插花视为减轻忙碌生活压力的一种方式。

45岁的花道学员高桥浩治说：“因为工作原因，每次刚上课的时候，我都感到十分疲倦。”

一些男性花费数年时间掌握了这门艺术，现在他们则向新学员们传授花道的治疗功效。