About Daruma
Shirakawa daruma was born from the despair of the 1783 famine.
Cranes for brows, turtles for whiskers, pine-bamboo-plum for beards — hence "the most elegant daruma in Japan."
1783 — The Story Begins
In 1783 (Tenmei 3), Mount Asama erupted and Japan was struck by one of the worst famines in its history. The fields of Tōhoku froze, and countless lives were lost.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, the lord of Shirakawa domain, asked the Edo-period painter Tani Bunchō to design a daruma, and promoted it as a local industry to help his devastated region recover. A public-minded creation, born of a governor's wish to bring life back to his people. That is how Shirakawa daruma began.
The Most Elegant Daruma in Japan
The face of a Shirakawa daruma carries decoration that no other region has.
- Brows: cranes — a symbol of longevity
- Whiskers: turtles — a blessing of ten thousand years
- Chin beard: pine — the evergreen
- Cheek whiskers: plum — the flower that blooms in snow
- Below the face: bamboo — bending but never breaking
In short, every symbol of Japanese fortune — pine, bamboo, plum, crane, and turtle — is gathered into one face.
Seven Falls, Eight Rises
A daruma carries a clay weight in its base, so that no matter how many times you knock it over, it stands back up. Seven falls, eight rises — the spirit of never giving up.
When you make a wish, you paint the left eye. When your wish comes true, you paint the right eye to complete it. From exams to new ventures to life's quiet challenges, it is a silent companion at life's turning points.
Handmade, Each One Different
Shirakawa daruma is made from paper. Layers of washi are built up on a wooden mold — a papier-mâché technique that yields a form both light and strong. The base was traditionally weighted with local river clay; since the 2011 earthquake, we source clay from Niigata.
Our eco-daruma is made of 100% paper, so that when its role is complete, it can be offered at a shrine for the traditional fire ceremony and returned to the earth.
Every step is done by hand. Paper-laying, drying, gofun priming, red lacquering, and finally the fine brush for pine-bamboo-plum-crane-turtle. Each daruma has a face slightly its own. "No two faces alike" is the artisan's pride.
February 11 — The Daruma Market
Every year on February 11, around 100,000 people gather along the old Oshū Kaidō in Shirakawa. The Daruma Market — a roughly 300-year-old cycle of offering up the old and welcoming in the new.
Begin with a small daruma, and welcome a slightly larger one each year. A family's history layered onto a sequence of darumas — perhaps the oldest form of "subscription purchasing" in Japan.
Between Tradition and the Present
Shirakawa daruma has been entrusted by global entertainment companies, a leading messaging-app brand, a major Japanese craft retailer, a flagship Japanese select store, a major transportation operator, and major public-interest foundations — as the craft most capable of bridging 300-year tradition and contemporary culture.
The elegance of Tani Bunchō, and the "kawaii" of today. 300 years of weight, and the lightness of a young aesthetic. The ability to hold both at once is the quiet flexibility of Shirakawa daruma.
A small, red smile for your everyday.
A signal to stand up once more.