Please join us for an offering ceremony of Wakana Kimura’s newly acquired traditional Japanese handmade paper in which Kimura will later be painting the large scale Buddha’s Nirvana scroll, illustrating the death of the Buddha.

This momentous event will take place on Sunday, December 4th, 2016 at 11:00 A.M. at the Zenshu-ji Soto mission temple, a 94 year old Zen Buddhist temple in Art District of Los Angeles. In conjunction with this offering ceremony, the ritual shooting of the arrow, will be performed by Hirokazu Kosaka and the Los Angeles Kyudo Kai (Archery group) who are celebrating their 100th year in Los Angeles.

Hiromi Katayama from Hiromi Paper Inc. has generously donated this beautifully crafted Washi (traditional handmade Japanese paper) made in Kochi prefecture, Japan. This paper (96” X 108”) was made by the late Mr. Ozaki, a highly skilled paper maker of Kochi Mashi, considered one of the largest papers in Japan. Kochi Mashi was his last creation of his 70 years career as a washi craftsman. This will be the first ever in the United States for a project this large scale to be painted by a female artist and will be an opportunity to explore the union of traditional materials (paper) and imagery (the iconography of the Buddha’s death scene) with contemporary painting techniques and a global approach to Buddhist teachings.

Jodo-e(成道会): Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama (Shakyamuni), experienced enlightenment, also known as bodhi in Sanskrit and Pali. According to tradition, Siddhartha had recently forsaken years of extreme ascetic practices and resolved to sit under a peepal tree and simply meditate until he found the root of suffering, and how to liberate oneself from it.

Jodo-e：The paper offering ceremony for the Nehan-zu