Modern Japanese Calligraphy on Daruma with Shoko Harada

May 17th, 2026

It was a beautiful afternoon in Greenpoint, and the perfect setting to spend a couple of hours at Shoko Harada’s Modern Calligraphy Workshop on Daruma!

Everyone learned how to use an ink stone, worked on practice strokes, and then went to Shoko to get their chosen character written out. Since the goal was to write a character on a daruma, or Japanese wish doll, people chose words or themes that symbolized wishes or intentions they have for the future, and once they wrote in their character, filled in the left eye of the daruma to set it. People chose words like luck, health, magic, and joy, and it was so lovely watching everyone write it out carefully and set their intention.

Shoko also brought a variety of products such as her book, along with some inks, paper, and calligraphy pens. It was a great workshop, and we were so glad to host Shoko in her first time doing a workshop in New York!