明治25年（1892）、福島県に生まれる。本名かね。東京・三輪田高女を卒業後、古流に入門、さらに花廼本宗寿の奥伝を許される。大正元年関孝治と結婚。大正5年（1916）、小原流盛花瓶花に傾倒、平一鶯に師事して光園と号す。大正11年には家元教授となり、一鶯社中「一葉会」の幹部として知られるようになる。大正13年、夫の病没により実家の角地姓に戻り花道教授に専念、昭和2年（1927）には本郷女子高等学園の花道教師も務める。
昭和4年、研美会の主宰者・工藤光洲と再婚。しかし結婚わずか4か月足らずで光洲が他界し、研美会会長を継ぐこととなる。会の古い門弟たちは離脱して苦難の出発となるも、工藤光洲追悼花展・同三回忌展・七回忌展と実力を示し、社中を復活させた。昭和11年、一ツ橋如水会館での「工藤光園個展」により作家としての地位を獲得。
翌12年、当時東京の幹事長・小原豊雲（若宗匠）の後を継ぎ小原流東京支部長に就任、流外にあっても、関東における小原流の代表として活躍。昭和16年、東京国風館において「工藤光園・平光波二人展」を開催。
昭和20年、戦災ですべてを失うが吉祥寺の仮寓にて研美会を再発足させ、翌年には東京支部研究会を復活させた。昭和27年の創流50周年記念全国大会で教務職に就任。新しい会館の設立を発起し資金集めに奔走、29年には青山に東京小原会館を竣工。昭和34年、日本橋白木屋（後の東急百貨店）で個展「工藤光園三十年回顧展」を開く。昭和42年秋、勲五等瑞宝章を授与される。昭和46年（1971）没。小原流は流葬を以てその功労に報いた。享年80。

Kudo Koen was born in Fukushima Prefecture in 1892. Her given name was Kane. After graduating from Miwada Girls’ High School in Tokyo, she became a student of the Koryu School. In 1912, she married Seki Kouji.
Moved by the moribana and heika styles of the Ohara School, she became a student of Taira Ichio in 1916 and was given the flower name of Koen. She became Professor of the Ohara School in 1922 and an official of Taira Ichio’s group Ichiyokai.
After her husband passed away in 1924, she reverted to using her maiden name of Kakuchi and devoted herself to teaching ikebana. In 1927, she began teaching the art at Hongo Girls’ High School.
Koen remarried Kudo Koshu, founder of Kenbikai, in 1929. However, Koshu died just four months later, and Koen became his successor as Kenbikai Chairman.
It was a rocky start, as long standing disciples broke away from the group. Yet she managed to prove herself by holding three exhibitions commemorating the life of Koshu (“Kudo Koshu Memorial Exhibition,” “Three Year Memorial Exhibition,” and “Seven Year Memorial Exhibition”), eventually reviving Kenbikai under her helm.
In 1936, she made a name for herself as an artist through her show, “Kudo Koen Solo Exhibition,” held at the Hitotsubashi Josui Kaikan.
In the following year, she succeeded then Executive Secretary Ohara Houn (Headmaster Designate) to become the Tokyo Chapter President. She actively represented the Ohara School in the Kanto region.
In 1941, the “Kudo Koen / Taira Koha Joint Exhibition” was held at the Tokyo Kokufu Center.
Although she lost everything to the war, she restarted Kenbikai at a temporary location in Kichijoji in 1945; the Tokyo Chapter’s Kenkyukai (workshop) also started anew in the following year.
In addition, she was an active member of the Ohara School’s Headmaster Council. In 1952, she was granted the title of Grand Master at the School’s 50th Anniversary Ceremony.
Koen then directed her efforts in obtaining funding for a new building that she proposed to be built in Tokyo; in 1954, construction of the Tokyo Ohara Kaikan in Aoyama was completed.
In 1959, Koen held a solo exhibition titled “Kudo Koen Sanjunen Kaiko Ten” (Kudo Koen: A Thirty-Year Retrospective) at the former Shirokiya Department Store in Nihonbashi.
Koen was conferred the Fifth Class of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, an Imperial Honor, in the autumn of 1967. She passed away at the age of 80 in 1971. The Ohara School held a funeral to honor her contributions to the School.
出典：花伝百選