Nageire, a more informal style of arrangement, had been practiced even during the earlier period when rikka was developing. Nageire had been a style of decoration for the zashiki, while rikka, the most formal style, was used for rites and ceremonies. The townspeople favored nageire, which presented the natural beauty of flowers without complicated rules.
In 1684, Toichiya Taemon, a merchant, wrote the Nageire Kadensho ( How to arrange flowers in Nageire style ), and in 1697, Kodai Shoka Zukan ( Collected Paintings of Historic Shoka Works ) by Ikenobo Sen'yo was published. Nageire influenced the development of early work in the shoka style.
Shoka at this time was very simple. Only two main branches (or flowers), one of which was called in (negative) and the other yo (positive), were used in arranging the work. These would later develop into three main parts, called shin, soe, and tai.
The shoka style developed over a long period, during with many schools of ikebana other than Ikenobo appeared.
Shoka was firmly established in Ikenobo Senjo's work Soka Hyakki ( One Hundred Examples of Ikebana , 1820). He also edited Heika Yodo-shu , in which the traditional methods of rikka were described in detail.