Miyako Ballesteros (née Tsuchida)

Born in Nagano, raised in Saitama, lived in Hong Kong and Tokyo before moving to Halifax in 2007.   Miyako is a qualified instructor in the Sogetsu School (草月流) of ikebana. She holds the rank of Teacher's Diploma 1st grade Jonin Somu (１級師範・常任総務) and is an active teaching member of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association (草月指導者連盟).

Kouto (虹都) is the name given to Miyako by her teacher when she first received her Teacher's Diploma.  "Kou" (虹) is the character for “rainbow”; while "to" (都) means “capital” but can also be read as “miyako”.

Learn more about the gagoh (ikebana name) here.