Publications

Mrs. Chandler was also a great writer who pursued new ideas and opportunities while also teaching. During her time as a teacher at a Military School in Tokyo, she exhibited her unique Hakata Ryu Floral Art which combined skillfully crafted clay figures called Hakata dolls with Japanese flower arrangements. This caught the attention of a publishing company, which was immediately attracted to this distinctive and beautiful approach to flower arrangement. As a result, three books were published featuring her writing and artwork, showcasing the story and beautiful pictures of the Hakata Ryu Floral Art she founded.

The Geisha Story

This first volume depicts the much-discussed but often misunderstood geisha. She is shown, with few exceptions, in the kimono and hairstyle of a long-ago era, sometimes at her professional duties of dancing and singing, or again performing the daily tasks common to women the world over, and in setting which suggest her mood of elegance and grace. Included are stories of some of the most famous geisha whose lives are still remembered.

Japanese Family Life

This unique presentation of the family life of the Japanese illustrates something of their way of living and reasons for their attitudes and actions. Included is a brief glimpse of Japanese history, in order to give the reader a perspective from which to observe these Hakata portrayals of some customs, manners, and daily activities of the Japanese family-a chance to note how their lives differ from or are similar to ours. 

Japanese crafts and trades

This volume portrays the long tradition of skillful creation and the special genius of the Japanese for adapting and improving the trade or craft in which they are engaged. In a world where mechanization reduces human effort to a minimum, these arrangements bring to life a place where old skills are nurtured and honored and where pride in achievement is of primary importance. 

Woman standing next to a glass display case with a figurine and boxed items labeled "The Geisha."

With her first book

Her first book was published in 1963. This volume depicts the story of the lives of the Geisha, their true function in the Japanese world, and telling the beloves tales of some famous geisha in Japan and pictures of Geisha Hakata dolls in settings that suggest her mood of elegance and grace.  

Group of adults and children examining a display with a model tree and a figurine.

Showing her first book "Geisha Story"

This book was illustrated with 13 gorgeous pictures of Hakata Ryu floral art, which is beautiful Geisha Hakata dolls placed in the flower arrangement to vivid the scenes along with their stories. This was a unique way to introduce the aesthetics of geisha and their real life. 

Cover of 'The Geisha Story' featuring a traditional Japanese doll in a kimono posed beside a flower arrangement with trees, lantern, and bamboo fence.

The Geisha Story

(Frontispiece) Here a geisha, setting off for her professional duties, comes out of her garden through a bamboo gate. 

Traditional Japanese screen (byōbu) with a figurine in a red kimono and a floral arrangement.

Her artwork of Hakata Ryu in the Geisha story

This is one of the pictures in her first book. This shows Madame Butterfly in a dance pose in front of a golden screen. 
She discovered that skillfully crafted Hakata dolls can be enhanced with flower arrangements.  

Open book with a Japanese floral and doll arrangement on the left, text on the right. Text Transcription: Japanese Family Life with Doll-and-Flower Arrangements by BILLIE T. CHANDLER Photographs by Shigemasa Nagai CHARLES E. TUTTLE COMPANY Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan

Japanese Family Life

(Frontispiece) Little girls in Japan begin at an early age to perform domestic chores. A small baby naps on his sister's back as she plays in the garden near a carved stone lantern. A bamboo fence makes a pretty background for the autumnal colors of this arrangement. 

Spring garden scene with figurines of two children with rabbits, surrounded by daffodils and greenery. Transcribed Text: In this Hakata Ryu setting of a spring garden a small girl in a gay pink kimono holds a carrot for her brother's pet rabbit to nibble. The shining leaves make a pleasant contrast with the rough stone textures and the bright daffodils.

Japanese Family Life-1

In this Hakata Ryu setting of a spring garden a small girl in a gay pink kimono holds a carrot for her brother's pet rabbit to nibble. The shining leaves make a pleasant contrast with the rough stone textures and the bright daffodils. 

Cover of 'Crafts and Trades of Japan' featuring a doll dressed as a traditional Japanese tradesman seated beside a floral arrangement with yellow flowers and a wooden structure.

Crafts and Trades

(Frontispiece) This representation of Kakiemon show one of his creations. He was also fond of flowers, butterflies, and birds, and he almost never painted figures. His designs were drawn with verve and freedom yet with that exquisite detail that characterizes the Japanese craftsman. 

Page from a book showing a model of a fisherman beside a rock and plant arrangement, paired with text about historical cormorant fishing practices in Europe, Japan, and China.

Crafts and Trades-1

Many, many years ago cormorant fishing was common in Europe and also in England, where the cormorant master was one of the royal household officers. This form of fishing is now practically obsolete except in Japan and China. The birds are easily tamed and trained, and their activity under water is almost incredible. 

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