DARUMA DOLLS: THE SYMBOL OF JAPANESE LUCK

Among the many Omamori, lucky charms of Japanese culture, the best known are certainly the Daruma Dolls (達磨). With an unusual appearance and an equally particular history, these dolls have been widespread in Japan for a very long time but, nowadays, they also have great fame abroad, as simple decorative objects.

Two Daruma dolls of different colors © Visit Gunma

The diffusion of these lucky charms dates back to the Edo Period, when they began to be used as talismans against smallpox. These dolls in fact symbolize strength , optimism and the ability to get up after falls, concepts represented above all by their shape: the dolls are in fact papier-mâché ovals constructed so that, when swinging, they always return to their feet.

This image of courage of the Daruma dolls has also inspired, in the Land of the Rising Sun, various sayings, such as the ancient proverb nanakarobi yaoki (七転び八起き), according to which "7 times you fall, 8 times get up" or the sweet nursery rhyme created to children, which reads:

Hi ni! it was ni!

Fundan Daruma ga

Akai zukin kaburi sunmaita!
*

Once! Twice!

Always the Daruma dressed in red

Careless, he sits down again!

Hand print of a Daruma doll © Pinterest

The Daruma dolls recall the figure of Bodhidharma , founder of Japanese Zen and great symbol of perseverance: according to legend, in fact, the monk lost the use of his legs and arms after sitting for nine years meditating in front of a wall. That's why these dolls are wrapped in a colorful tunic and depicted without limbs.

Painting on canvas of Bodhidharma during the years of meditation © Bodhidharma

These lucky charms can be found mainly in dedicated Buddhist temples, such as the Katsuo-ji Temple in the city of Osaka where, from the moment you enter, you find yourself surrounded by many of these objects of the most disparate and recognizable dimensions, as well as for their particular already mentioned, also for other singular characteristics: the face, for example, always drawn in a stylized way, the crane-shaped eyebrows or the beard that recalls the shell of a turtle, both symbols of longevity .

Daruma dolls placed at the entrance of Katsuo-ji Temple in Osaka © Unsplash

The most important peculiarity of these objects, however, concerns the eyes. When purchased , the dolls do not have pupils : they are people who, expressing a wish addressed to a deity, draw the pupil of the right eye with black ink. The left, however, should be painted only when the desire has come true. On the cheeks there are then kanji - words - which can symbolize various requests including protection, love or money. Even the color of the tunic changes based on the desire you want to express: among the most common we have the traditional red, yellow which represents economic wealth, white for purity and also orange, pink, purple, black.

After drawing the pupil on the right eye, the owner writes his surname on the chin , so that the deity who will grant the wish knows who the doll belongs to; the latter is then placed in a raised place in the house, in the hope of being able to color the other eye too. The time available for the wish to come true is one year, after this period the doll must be brought back to the temple where it was purchased to be burned !

Over time, in addition to the classic one, different types of Daruma have been created: The Hime Daruma (姫達磨) for example, the female version that guarantees protection to children, or the Daruma with a phallic shape , with a nice association with idea of “coming back up when you have gone down”.

These dolls, nowadays, are also widespread outside the religious context: in addition to being used to mark the goals to be achieved in the workplace or as simple decorative objects, they have also made their appearance on television, both alongside some winners of the political elections, both in various TV series or anime, including "As the Gods Will" , one of the most particular and extravagant manga of the last decade.
tattoo-daruma-tenoha

A curiosity? Daruma dolls are now considered a symbol of strength even outside of Japan, so much so that they are very often represented on tattoos : in this case too, a wish is expressed by tattooing the pupil of the doll's right eye, while the left will be added only if and when the wish will come true!

DARUMA DOLLS: THE SYMBOL OF JAPANESE LUCK

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