HIME DARUMA

HIME DARUMA from the city of Takeda、Oita-prefecture

Daruma is a papier-mache figure without arms or legs that always returns to an upright position when tipped on one side. It is a symbol of determination and an object of good luck. 

When you purchase it, the doll is missing its eyes. Once you achieve your goal, you should paint the second eye. Traditional daruma is male and not cute, in my opinion, but here’s my favorite HIME (princess) daruma!

===

Walking around the town of Takeda, you’ll see gently smiling “Hime darumas” at the shop entrances on the street. This daruma is called “Hime Daruma,” and it is an important intangible folk-cultural property of Takeda City, Oita Prefecture.

“Hime Daruma” has more than 300 years of history, dating back to the Time of the Oka Clan. It is also called the “round-bottled doll” or “Lucky woman” and has been a lucky charm for family safety and business prosperity.

According to “Goto Hime Daruma Studio,” the only atelier in the city, the origin of Hime Daruma goes back to the story of AYAJO, the wife of Saika, a low-ranking samurai of the Oka Clan.

One day at the end of the year, AYAJA was going out of the Saika Family for the never-ending quarrel over her poor salary. She stayed frozen cold for two days and two nights in front of a barn. She was rescued by her husband, who had been looking for her with worry.

As a result of the event, family ties strengthened, and the husband was promoted to rich status. This Hime Daruma was created as a symbol of family safety and business prosperity.

As a unique custom of Takeda city, the darumas were distributed to each house in town in the early morning of New Year's Day. The distributor was called “Hogito,” and the houses who received them gave gift money in turn and decorated the darumas in their houses.

“Hime Daruma,” donned with 12 layered kimonos painted with pine, bamboo, and plum, has long slit eyes, vivid eyes, small lips with scarlet red color, and exudes elegance and gracefulness. Hime Daruma seems like a reliable wife or mother who manages a household.

The former owner of the Goto Hime Daruma decided to revive “Hime Daruma” in 1952 with a great effort by referring to the one that had remained in his old house. He believes that Hime Daruma’s strength was a power source for many people because when it was tipped on one side, it always returned to an upright position.