Daruma Tattoo Meanings from a 14th-Generation Maker
Knock a daruma over and it swings straight back upright. A daruma tattoo puts that same promise on your skin: you will get up again. People ask me all the time, "I'm thinking about a daruma tattoo. What should I know?"
Quick answer: A daruma tattoo means perseverance: "fall down seven times, get up eight." Blank, one-eyed or two-eyed designs show where you are in pursuing a goal, and colors add meaning, such as red for courage or blue for focus. Choose an experienced Japanese-style artist, carry a real wish, and check onsen tattoo rules.
I'm Takaaki Watanabe of Shirakawa Daruma Sohonpo, a 14th-generation daruma workshop in Shirakawa, Fukushima. My family has been hand-painting daruma for over 300 years. This guide is what I tell people before they commit to ink.
What Does a Daruma Tattoo Mean?
A daruma is a round, limbless Japanese good-luck doll with blank eyes that you fill in as you pursue a goal. Its heart is the proverb "Nanakorobi yaoki": fall down seven times, get up eight. The doll is round and weighted at the base, so when you knock it over it swings back upright. Japanese calls this okiagari, self-righting. It is a big part of why the daruma appeals to people as a tattoo, including many outside Japan.
The name comes from Bodhidharma, the Buddhist monk, traditionally said to have come from India (some accounts say Persia or Central Asia), who lived around the 5th to 6th century and is credited by tradition with bringing Chan (Zen) to China. Legend says he meditated facing a wall for nine years. In some tellings his arms and legs withered away, which is why the doll has no limbs.
Get a daruma tattoo and this is the wish you carry. It is less decoration than a promise to yourself. And the promise gets more specific once you decide what to do with the eyes.
What Do Blank and Filled Eyes Mean in a Daruma Tattoo?
On a real daruma, the eyes are the whole point. It starts with both eyes blank. You paint in one eye when you set a goal, and the other when it comes true. Tattoos borrow this idea, and the choice you make says something about where you are in your story:
- Both eyes blank: No wish has been set yet, or the vow is still taking shape. Some people choose this for a journey they are only beginning.
- One eye filled: A goal has been set and you have committed to it. Which eye gets painted first differs between regions and sources, so there is no single correct side. Choose with your artist, and go with what feels right to you. Some people leave the second eye open so they can return and complete it once the goal is met.
- Both eyes filled: The goal has been achieved. People often choose this as a "victory tattoo" after a major win.
The face symbols. A Shirakawa daruma carries auspicious motifs in its face: the crane (longevity) and the turtle (long life) among them, along with pine, bamboo and plum, the "three friends of winter" that stand for endurance. Many tattoo artists simplify these. If you want your tattoo to read as Shirakawa-style, ask for the motifs to be kept. Our article on the 5 symbols on every Shirakawa daruma's face shows each one.
Eyes tell the story. Color sets its tone.
What Do the Colors Mean in a Daruma Tattoo?
Daruma come in many colors, and these associations carry over to tattoos. They are common conventions, not fixed rules, and they vary by region and by artist:
- Red: The traditional color. It is linked to warding off illness and to the robes of Buddhist monks, and it is the all-purpose choice for perseverance and courage.
- Black: Modern and bold. Often chosen for protection and stability.
- Gold or yellow: Wealth and prosperity. Popular with entrepreneurs.
- Blue: Study, calm and focus. Often chosen by students.
- Green: Health and healing. A natural choice after illness or recovery.
- Purple: Often linked with long life and honor, and with self-improvement.
For more on how color is used on the dolls themselves, see Daruma Color Meanings: The Complete Guide. Next, the designs people most often ask for.
What Are the Most Common Daruma Tattoo Designs?
1. Single daruma (traditional red). The classic. It represents a current goal.
2. Daruma with cherry blossoms. Renewal and the passing of time. Often chosen at a major life transition.
3. Daruma with koi. Two ideas combined: persistence (the daruma) and transformation (the koi that, in the Chinese legend, climbs a waterfall and becomes a dragon).
4. Daruma with a wave (Hokusai-style). Resilience against the chaos of life.
5. Half-burned daruma. A daruma in flames refers to daruma kuyō, the ceremony in which old daruma are returned to a temple and burned, often around New Year. It reads as gratitude and letting go.
6. Daruma with a snake (hebi). The snake is associated with wisdom and transformation. Together: wisdom that persists.
7. Bodhidharma as a monk. The figure behind the doll, shown in meditation. It is more explicitly religious than the doll form.
Once you have a design, the next question is where it goes on your body.
Where Should You Place a Daruma Tattoo?
Forearm. The most visible to you and to others. There is an irony here: in some tellings of the legend, Bodhidharma lost his arms, so some people feel that putting a daruma on the arm "completes" it with their own.
Chest, near the heart. Personal and private. A good choice for inner-strength meanings.
Back (full piece). The traditional placement for larger Japanese compositions, often with waves, blossoms or other motifs.
Calf or thigh. Easy to cover and very personal. It suits a private commitment.
Think carefully about: hands, neck and face. In Japan, visible tattoos can still carry an association with organized crime, and these placements are the hardest to hide. They can complicate work and travel there.
What Etiquette Should You Know Before Getting a Daruma Tattoo?
The daruma is a beloved good-luck charm with Buddhist roots, and I have never seen it treated as something off limits to outsiders. My advice is simple: if you wear it, mean it.
- Look for an artist with experience in Japanese-style work (irezumi). Irezumi is the Japanese tattoo tradition. Proportions, wave patterns and color choices matter, and an experienced artist will get them right.
- Carry a real wish. A daruma works because you attach a specific goal to it. A tattoo chosen only because it looks good misses what makes it special.
- Consider a meaningful date. A birthday, an anniversary, or the day after a major win.
- Pair it with a real daruma. If you want to start the habit before committing to ink, you can paint the eyes on a white daruma yourself. Setting the goal first and painting the second eye later is a good way to test whether the wish is really yours.
Respect for the symbol is one thing. What about how people in Japan will react?
Will Japanese People Be Offended by a Daruma Tattoo?
In my experience, rarely. Someone who wears a daruma and can explain what it means is usually met with warmth and curiosity, though opinions naturally vary from person to person.
Where you are more likely to run into friction:
- Public bathhouses (sentō) and onsen, Japan's hot-spring baths, often prohibit tattoos of any kind, daruma included, because of the long-standing association between tattoos and organized crime. Some facilities now relax the rule, so check ahead.
- Conservative workplaces may frown on visible tattoos, although attitudes are slowly changing.
The real risk is getting the tattoo without knowing what it means, and then being asked to explain it. Read about the doll first, and you will have a good answer.
Why Do I Still Recommend the Tattoo?
I've made and painted thousands of daruma. I've watched people fill in the eyes, and I've watched their lives change. The daruma works because it is a visible commitment.
A tattoo is the most visible commitment you can make. Whatever you are working toward, wearing the daruma on your skin keeps it in front of you, every day.
If you are going to get one, make sure the wish is worth carrying that long.
Key takeaways
- A daruma tattoo stands for perseverance, from the proverb "Nanakorobi yaoki": fall down seven times, get up eight.
- Blank eyes mean no wish is set yet, one filled eye means a goal is set, and two filled eyes mean it has been achieved.
- Red is the traditional daruma color, linked to warding off illness and to perseverance and courage; blue is often chosen for study, calm and focus.
- Hands, neck and face are the hardest placements to hide, and visible tattoos in Japan can still carry an association with organized crime.
- Many sentō and onsen prohibit tattoos of any kind, daruma included, though some facilities now relax the rule.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a daruma tattoo symbolize?
It symbolizes perseverance and commitment to a goal, summed up in the proverb "fall down seven times, get up eight." The eyes show whether the goal is still ahead or already achieved.
Is it disrespectful for a non-Japanese person to get a daruma tattoo?
Not in the experience of a 14th-generation daruma maker, who has never seen the daruma treated as off limits to outsiders. The advice is to carry a real wish and to learn what the doll means first.
Can I enter an onsen with a daruma tattoo?
Often not. Public bathhouses (sentō) and onsen frequently prohibit tattoos of any kind because of the long-standing association between tattoos and organized crime. Some facilities now relax the rule, so check ahead.
Featured Daruma
If you would like a daruma of your own to hold while you decide, each of these is hand-painted in our Fukushima studio:
Continue Reading
- The 5 Symbols on Every Shirakawa Daruma's Face
- Daruma Color Meanings: The Complete Guide
- What is Shirakawa Daruma? A 300-Year Tradition
Use code DARUMA10 for 10% off your first order.
Written by the team at Shirakawa Daruma Sohonpo, hand-painting daruma in Shirakawa, Fukushima for 14 generations.