Saturday
14Jan2006
My Daruma doll
Saturday, January 14, 2006 at 11:49PM 
Meet my Daruma doll. Daruma is the Japanese name of the Indian monk Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma travelled from India to China (where he is known as Damo) around AD 500 and founded Chan (or Zen) school of Buddhism.
Daruma dolls are sold at temple festivals (matsuri). The eyes of the dolls are not filled in. Around new year people buy these dolls. They make a resolution and fill in one of the eyes. If they are able to successfully complete the task then they will come back and paint the remaining eye. At the end of the year the dolls are taken to a temple and burnt.
Daruma dolls are popular with Japanese politicians. They paint one eye before the elections and if they win then they paint the other one.
I bought my Daruma doll at a bookshop. As a convenience these bookshop dolls came with one eye already colored in. The other eye was provided in the form of a sticker saving you the hassle of messing with paint. The character � you see painted in front is fuku in Japanese or fu in Chinese. It means good luck. This doll also doubles up as a piggy-bank - there is a slot at the top to drop in coins.
Reader Comments (10)
I'd never heard about this before, Preetam! I think it's most interesting.. Wouldn't it make a lovely way of helping our students work towards certain aims? They can draw the second eye when they decide they've achieved it.. great to introduce young learners to self-assessment, I'd say...
You haven't told us what your resolution was when you bought the doll! I guess that's personal, but please post a new picture when you've added the second eye! ;)
Daruma is well known among Japanese kids regardless of generation. I can say that unexceptionally, all Japanese kids encounter Daruma through children's song. The contents of this song: ''Daruma-san to niramekko (= staring contest with Daruma)" Japanese children's song is really profound and inter-culture, so to speak. I have Japanese children's songs (90 songs) CD at home and I would like to explain it to you some day.
Really cool! I had never heard of these but now I cant wait to get my hands on one... :)
preetam did you buy this locally?
hello gladys, I was so excited when I opened up that daruma box that I forgot the part about the resolution. I like your idea of using daruma san as a motivation for students.
Obata san isn't there another children's game where they say "daruma san is falling down- Daruma san ga koronda". Will drop by your place soon to listen to the cds.
Thanks IndiaPad for the plug.
And projectmsg, i got it from the kinokinunia book store near clark quay.
Hi Preetamrai,
I also got "DarumaSan" at home ^^. By coincident, I had his pic on my blog and gonna put a short description about him there. I looked up on the net and found your blog which got a little story.
And, I have quoted your words in my blog...Please let me know if this is not ok for you. Thx.
akzhnska...
krmshyeci tiyuiddyok mxttlijilu delzwro ...
erm.. u colored the wrong eye. it should be the left one first
Where can I get one?
I was at a Meditation Retreat with a famous American meditation teacher (Shinzen Young); he was very impressed and impacted with the Japanese culture early in his years, and he mentioned that children who are around the age of 10 get these dolls with a lesson imparted on the side; The doll of Daruma (boddhidharma) is said to have no arms and legs because he meditated for 9 years and they atrophied away (he was a hard worker! but of course the intensity of his practice is an exaggerated myth) and also the doll itself can be tipped in one direction or the other and it will bounce back up.
Inscripted on the Doll is the teaching: Fall 9 times and get up again.
Anything in life takes a lot of work for sucess to shine trough!