# Daruma doll

達磨 daruma

![Daruma doll](https://www.furoshiki.com/motifs/daruma.svg)

The round, self-righting doll based on Bodhidharma embodies perseverance ("fall down seven times, get up eight"); one eye is filled in when making a wish, the other when it comes true.

Mid-18th century, Shōrinzan Daruma-ji, Takasaki (Gunma)

The doll depicts Bodhidharma, the monk credited with taking Zen to China. At Shōrinzan Daruma-ji in Takasaki, the temple's founder gave out New Year charm pictures of Daruma. Around the Meiwa era (1764–72) the ninth priest, Tōgaku, gave local farmers wooden moulds so they could make papier-mâché dolls instead. By the mid-19th century it had merged with the older self-righting toy. In late Edo its red colour was also believed to ward off smallpox.

Takasaki still makes most of Japan's daruma and holds the Daruma-ichi fair at Shōrinzan each New Year; owners paint in one eye for a goal and the other when it is reached.

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Source: https://www.furoshiki.com/motifs/daruma/