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Daruma Fair

Daruma fairs are held throughout Japan at the beginning of the year. These daruma dolls sold at daruma fairs are modeled after Bodhidharma, an Indian monk who founded Zen Buddhism in the sixth century. Legend has it that the monk sat meditating in a cave for nine years!

Daruma is a roly-poly doll that returns to an upright position when tipped over. It's also a good luck charm that helps people fulfill their wishes; it encourages us to keep working toward our own goals even when others are trying to knock us over.

The biggest and most famous daruma fair is the one at Darumadera, a temple in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of Tokyo. The festival is held on January 6 and 7 each year.

This fair began around 200 years ago, when the head priest, concerned about local villagers who were going hungry because of a crop failure, taught them how to make these dolls and allowed them to set up shops at the temple during a New Year festival.

Today, the two-day fair features around 110 daruma-selling stalls on the temple grounds. They sell around 20,000 dolls each year to the more than 300,000 visitors who come to the fair.

A new doll doesn't have its eyes painted in yet; this is because the purchaser draws in one eye while making a wish, and draws in the other when the wish is fulfilled.

Large daruma with just one eye drawn in are always found in the offices of candidates at election time. No, the dolls aren't trying to win over voters by winking; the second eye gets painted in when the candidate is successfully elected!