Bring Fortune from Japan : Daruma

Japanese people love good luck charms.

We give them as a gift or display in our house.

Consciously or not, we see these around us in our daily lives.

Some are derived from Hinduism or Chinese culture.

Japanese good luck charms also come from Shinto and Buddhism,

in which  we wish prosperity of our descendants and health.

Japanese good luck charms are not only cute, but have a lot of meanings
for Japanese people. I would like to share them with many of you
in different counties and want you to know about Japan more.

Today, I would like to introduce Daruma.

daruma

Do you know a Japanese old saying, "七転び八起き" (Nanakorobi-yaoki)?

七転び八起き（ななころびやおき）

Nana-Korobi-Yaoki

Nana＝seven times
Korobi＝falling down ( 転ぶ＝korobu= fall down)
ya＝eight times
oki＝stand up / （起きる= okiru = raise your upper body / get up )



Meaning:

If you fall down seven times, stand up eight times.

A man's walking is a succession of falls.

Daruma has a round shape and if I fall it down, it always raise his body up.
Therefore, Japanese people display a daruma when we have to take an exam or run for an election to wish for our success.

In English, daruma is called :

lucky daruma

good luck-daruma

good fortune-daruma

Here is how to make a wish with a daruma.

1. Make a wish that you want to achieve
2. Draw a left eye of daruma. （Draw a circle and paint black)

3. Once your wish comes true, draw the other to show your appreciation.

Then, we display it for a year.  During New Year's holidays, usually around January 15 to 20,
we have an event "Dondo-yaki" where people bring fortune things such as daruma, charms or arrows
to a certain place and put fire on and burn them in each community.