The Japan Foundation Los Angeles hosts workshop “Shabutsu: Tracing Forms of the Buddha” on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the Murasaki Hall of the Japan Foundation located at 5700 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036.
Admission is free. Registration required.
Shabutsu is the practice of tracing the image of the Buddha by hand, sharing the same spirit as carving Buddhist statues. Buddhist images are not created as expressions of personal creativity, but as objects of devotion, following traditional guidelines. At the same time, there is a long-standing belief that the Buddha exists within all things, and through sincere practice, that presence can be revealed.
In Shabutsu, a sheet of paper is placed over a model image, and the lines are carefully traced one by one. At the end, a personal prayer or wish is quietly written. More than an artistic activity, Shabutsu is a meditative practice filled with mindfulness and prayer.
In this workshop, Shabutsu will be instructed by Rev. Yuryu Mori of Koyasan Beikoku Betsuin of Los Angeles, a Shingon school temple.
Born in 2000 at Tamon-in, a sub-temple of Kumeda-dera in Kishiwada City, Osaka Prefecture, Rev Mori was ordained in 2013. He completed his monastic training at Koyasan Senshu Gakuin in 2022 and received his official priest certification the same year. In 2024, he graduated from the College of Letters at Ritsumeikan University and was appointed to Koyasan Beikoku Betsuin shortly thereafter.
[Website] Koyasan Beikoku Betsuin
Related Programs
[Exhibition] Manifesting Icons: The Materials and Making of Buddhist Visual Culture in Asia