An ofuda most often appears in the form of a sheet of printed paper which, due to the presence of a central image or sometimes just one entry, embodies a being revered in Buddhism or, more rarely, in Shintoism. The latter, distributed to the faithful, is both the bearer of private devotion and a talisman showing the actual presence of the deity.
While Buddhism is now well-known in the West, and despite the current popularity of Japanese culture, which popularized the spirit and aesthetics of Zen, Japanese Buddhism in its specificity remains largely unknown.
Humble leaflets, talismans invested the active presence, not matter how fleeting, of the deity depicted, or even evidence of a holy pilgrimage, these ofuda offer us a unique insight into the personal and mundane dimensions of the Buddhist faith, through the two-way mirror of individual practice and beliefs.