Daruma: A Wishing Doll with a Thousand-Yard Stare

The Daruma doll isn’t exactly a good luck charm. It’s a “wishing doll” or fetish modeled on Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism. Daruma is a symbol of perseverance, and he’s included here because he’s positive, motivational and resilient. A Japanese proverb closely associated with Daruma’s roundness is: Nana korobi ya oki (roughly translated: Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) In other words, resilience and determination are the keys to success.

According to legend, Bodhidharma spent nine years in deep meditation staring at a blank wall (hence the blank eyeballs). During his long meditative retreat, Daruma was the subject of all sorts of temptations from demons, and rats chewed on his ears and other body parts. When he finally attempted to rise from his position of meditation, he discovered that his legs had withered away to nothing. For this reason, he is always depicted without legs. Artists have also removed his arms, but his undaunted spirit remains.

Most Daruma dolls are red because it’s believed that Bodhidharma wore red robes, but they come in a variety of colors these days. His eyebrows are painted to look like cranes and his beard is painted to resemble tortoises because these animals represent longevity. There are also female versions of Daruma (onna-Daruma) and a snow-man Daruma (yuki-Daruma), which — in The House’s opinion — resembles the Grimace.

During the lunar new year, many Japanese individuals and corporations buy a Daruma doll, make a resolution, and then paint in one of the eyes. If, during the year, they are able to achieve their goal, they paint in the second eye. At year’s end, it is customary to take the Daruma doll to a temple, where it is burned in a big bonfire.