だるま市, ダルマ市 ― お正月散歩
New Year is the season for many Daruma Markets all over Japan, mostly
around the Kanto area. It seems everybody wants to make sure the coming
year brings him/her a little more good luck and it takes a Daruma doll
without eyes to help with that big task.
This story will give you an overview of the many events taking place around
the New Year Time in Japan. The different tpyes of Daruma dolls will be
explained in their own stories. The material for this subject is just
overwhelming. Checking in English you find more than 113 entires for Daruma
Markets, 32 for Daruma Fairs.
Checking in Japanese for だるま市 you find 3050 (!) entries, for ダルマ市
there are 638 and for 達磨市 you find 182. For だるま祭りwe have more
than 200 entries. This only reflects the different ways of spelling DARUMA
with the complicated Japanese writing system.
First I would like to give you a rendering of my favorite Japanese HP
about this subject, a survey of the most important markets by Mr. Ogawa,
then I carry on from there. Thank you so much, Mr. Ogawa!
お正月はだるま市のシーズンですね。インタネットでもたくさんのHPがありますが、まず小川さんのHPの簡単英語版を紹介します。小川さんありがとう！
http://hamadayori.hp.infoseek.co.jp/0103/daruma.html
A Daruma Market is held at many Buddhst temples and Shinto shrines at
their respecitve festival days (ennichi縁日), but mostly during the New
Year season. Most Daruma Markets are held in Northern and Central Japan
with Tokyo at the center, but in Western Japan there are only a few. The
markets are scheduled one after another to permit the vendors to move
from one to the next. At most temples and shrines everywhere in Japan
you can get a papermachee Daruma doll during the first three days of the
New Year.
Here is a list of Daruma Markets given by Mr.
Mc Farland, arranged by date.
JANUARY
1-3 Many Temples and Shrines throughout Japan
1-15 Toyokawa Inari Shrine Festival, Aichi Pref.
6 First New Year's Fair, Gyooda, Saitama Pref.
6-7 Shoorin-zan, Takasaki and Sawa, Gunma Pref.
7-8 Shinano Kokubun-ji Festival, Ueda, Nagano Pref.
7-9 Bishamonten Shrine Fuji, Shizuoka Pref. (Old Lunar Calenedar)
8 Kiku Inari Shrine, Tano, Gunma Pref.
9 Mito, Ibaragi Pref.
9-10 Koyasu Shrine, Hachiooji, Tokyo 10 Maebashi, Gunma Pref.
11 Kotohira Shrine Festival, Takasaki, Gunma Pref.
11 Futaba, Fukushima Pref.
11 First New Year's Fair, Shibukawa, Gunma Pref.
11 First New Year's Fair, Utsunomiya, Tochigi Pref.
11 Tokorokoma Shrine, Makabe, Ibaragi Pref.
12 Miharu, Fukushima Pref.
12 Dairoku Ten-jinja , Chigasaki Town, Kanagawa Pref.
12 Sumiyoshi Jinja Daruma Market, Aome, Tokyo
12-13 Koku-Jizoo-Festival, Chichibu, Saitama Pref.
14 Mine Shrine Festival, Katta, Miyagi Pref.
14 Hachiman Shrine Festival, Sendai, Miyagi Pref.
14-15 Candy Fair, Matsumoto, Nagano Pref.
14-15 Haguro Shrine, Fukushima City
15-16 Shimodate, Ibaragi Pref.
18 Daruma Kuyoo (Burning), Dairyuu-ji, Gifu City
21 Nishi-Arai Daishi Temple Festival, Adachi Ward, Tokyo
25 Iyoku Shrine Festival, Sawa, Gunma Pref.
28 Tokusa Fudoo Festival, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Pref.
31 First New Year's Fair, Kanuma, Tochigi Pref.
FEBRUARY
1 Goshiki Shrine, Kita-Saitama City
2 Hoorin-ji, Ukyoo, Kyoto
3-4 Setsubun Festival, Great Shrine in Koofu, Yamanashi Pref. First
Sunday Daruma Festival, Okaya, Nagano Pref.
10 Konpira Shrine Festival, Iwatsuki, Saitama Pref.
11 Daruma Market, Shirakawa, Fukushima Pref.
11 Daruma Festival, Koozen-ji, Suzuka, Mie Pref.
13-14 Jizoo Festival, Koofu, Yamanashi Pref. Second Sunday Daruma Market,
Shinmei Shrine, Mihara, Hiroshima Pref. Third Sunday Kiyomizu-dera Festival,
Fujieda, Shizuoka Pref.
25 Monju Festival, Oosato, Saitama Pref.
28 Noda, Chiba Pref. First Day of the Horse Takenoma Inari Shrine Festival,
Iwanuma, Miyagi Pref.
MARCH
3-4 Daruma Market, Jindai-ji, Choofu, Tokyo
APRIL
1-2 Ryootan-ji, Hikone, Shiga Pref.
11 Daruma Festival (Daruma-e) Daruma-ji, Ooji, Nara
19-20 Enpuku-ji, Yahata, Kyoto Pref.
21 Daruma Festival, Koozen-ji, Kamitonda, Wakayama Pref.
OCTOBER
5 Daruma Memorial Day (Daruma-ki), most Zen temples
20 Daruma Festival, Enpukuji, Yahata, Kyoto Pref.
DECEMBER
17-18 Iizumi Kannon Festival, Odawara, Kanagawa Pref.
24, 30 Yearend Fair, Nakaminato, Ibaragi Pref.
25,31 Yearend Fair, Inari Shrine, Fukushima City
26 Yearend Fair, Haga, Tochigi Pref.
Mr. Minegishi
in his extensive book about Takasaki Daruma cites 25 markets in Gunma
prefecture alone!
峰岸さんの本には群馬県だけでは25件のだるま市が述べています。
On the HP of Mr. Kyobashi you find more Japanese links on the internet. We will explore them in detail in Part 2 of this story. 杏橋さんのHPにもLINKがいっぱいあります。パート２で詳しく調べます。
Let us look at five of the biggest Daruma Markets. Takasaki is the biggest
one of the three great Daruma Markets, the second is Jindai-ji and the
third in Shirawaka. Some people say the one at the Bishamon Festival in
Fuji Town is the third biggest, but never mind that. And Mihara is certainly
the biggest in Western Japan.
Takasaki Shorin-zan Daruma Market 高崎少林山のだるま市
Maybe the oldest, biggest and most well-known Daruma Market is held at
the famous Daruma Temple Shorin-zan in Takasaki (Shoorin-zan, Shoorinzan).
The temple is located about a 15 minutes drive from Takasaki Station.
(It takes about 3 hours from Tokyo by train to get there.) The temple
Shorin-zan belongs to the Obaku Sect of Zen and is known as the place
of origin of the Good Luck Daruma (engi Daruma 縁起だるま).
The Daruma Market is held every year at the sixth and seventh of January,
the seventh is the great festival of the special rice gruel with seven
vegetables, eaten on this day only (nanakusa 七草粥).
During the middle of the Edo period Mt. Asama erupted and the great famine
of Tenmei followed soon. It was a hard period for the local farmers. To
help eleviate their burden the head priest of the Temple Shorin-zan had
the good idea to make a little papermachee doll of Daruma and sell it
as a token for good luck. The first figures were representing the monk
himself sitting in meditation in a realistic way, but soon they became
simpler and took the round form of a silkworm cocoon. Now we know them
as the "Daruma for Good Luck" (fuku daruma 福だるま) of Takasaki.
The yearly output of Daruma dolls in all of Japan is about 2 million dolls,
with Takasaki as the biggest producer of about 80% of them. More than
100 shops and families in this area are busy with the production. Other
areas of Daruma production are in Shirakawa and Koshigaya, but their total
output is only small.
Looking at the figure above we find that one in 20 housholds in Japan
posesses a Daruma doll. That is quite hard to believe. Since Daruma dolls
are usually not sold in department stores and supermarkets, they must
all be going through the Daruma Markets. Usually Takasaki town is extremely
crowded during the Daruma Market season and the place is most busy during
the night from the 6th to the 7th of January.
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Climbing up the long stone stairs you come to the main hall with a statue
of the Zen patriarch Daruma Daishi in his red robe, seated in meditation.
All around the hall are stalls and half of them sell Daruma dolls, some
sell also beckoning cats (maneki neko 招き猫) and the zodiac animal of
the new year. Daruma comes in many sizes, from a tiny ball for about 3
dollars to a big one costing a fortune. But you can haggle about the prize,
if you find a doll that suits you. The Daruma has no eyes painted, so
you can paint one while making your wish for the New Year. (See story
of Painting
Eyes for Daruma.)
Have a look at the following HP for the many sizes of the Good Luck Daruma.
http://www.wind.ne.jp/sanrin/fukudaruma.html
More about the Takasaki Daruma Market.
http://www.city.takasaki.gunma.jp/English/Daruma.html
http://www.jinjapan.org/atlas/crafts/cra05.html
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/daruma.shtml (More
about Daruma)
http://www.darumaonline.com/da_text/new-market.htm
http://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/calendar/january/daruma.html
http://www.outdoorjapan.com/festivals-events/events-gunma.html
(More about festivals in Gunma Pref.)
http://www.jinjapan.org/nipponia/nipponia8/what.html
http://www.city.takasaki.gunma.jp/kankou/daruma.htm
(日本語)
Temple Jinda-ji in Tokyo 東京の深大寺
The Daruma Market is on the 3rd and 4th of May. In the temple ground,
Darumas of many different colors are sold, not only red ones.
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There are also Darumas with the eyes already painted in, but hidden
(mekakushi Daruma 目隠しだるま). The reason for this is simpler than you
think. These special Daruma come with golden eyes and to make sure the
golden foil does not come off during transportation and packing, they
are covered by a slip of white paper.
If you look closer, you can see that the face is painted in many different
ways. For good luck the eyebrows should resemble a crane and the lip beard
a tortoise. The chin beard resembles a pine tree while the belly pattern
and nose come alive like bamboo and plum, to give us the three auspicious
symbols (shoo-chiku-bai 松竹梅).
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In the yearly magazine Nr. 11 of the Daruma Association there is an
article about this Daruma Market at Jindai-ji.
だるま会報11号に深大寺のだるま市の記事もあります。
http://www.merit5.co.jp/gyosei/chofu/0202/chofu0202.html#07
You can read more about this subject in my story about Jindai-ji
Shirakawa Daruma Market 白川だるま市
Shirakawa town has been a market place since the Kamakura period and the
present-day Daruma market developed from an old "Flower Market"
in January; it is now held on February 11th, on the National Holiday for
the Founding of the Constitution. There are more than 800 stalls, about
150.000
Daruma dolls are produced locally and about 150.000 people visit the market.
Daruma dolls come in 18 different sizes, mostly with all the auspicious
symbols we have just seen above at Jindai-ji. The biggest is 75 cm and
the smallest 8 cm.
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http://www.shirakawa.ne.jp/~menu/daruma/top.htm
Here you can see many pictures from the market in 2001.
http://www.shirakawa.ne.jp/~menu/daruma/2001/
http://www.worldvillage.org/gy/gyold/15006.html
(More about Fukushima festivals)
Bishamonten Festival in Fuji 富士、毘沙門天大祭
This festival occures according to the old lunar calendar, so the date is shifting from December to February at the Temple Myoohoo-ji (Myoho-ji). Daruma dolls with a big beard are the speciality of this Daruma Market. This beard is one of the characteristics of the main deity, Bishamonten, of this temple. The road from the Yoshihara station to the temple is lined with stalls and maybe more than 500.000 people are on their feet during the three days of this festival and more than 150.000 dolls are sold.
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http://www.city.fuji.shizuoka.jp/kankou_m/maturi/yondai_m.htm#bisyamon
http://taitan21.cool.ne.jp/fuji/ichiban/bishamon.htm
Daruma Market in Mihara 三原のだるま市
This is the great Daruma Market in Western Japan, in Hiroshima prefecture.
The second Sunday (and Saturday) are the great days of the Shinmei Festival
(神明市) at the famous Zen temple Buttsuu-ji (佛通寺) within the parc
precincts of the Yahata Shrine. From Mihara Station it takes about 40
minutes to reach the temple by bus. One of the big Daruma figures is about
3.5 meters high, made from a bamboo scaffold and covered with old newspaper
before coloring it all red. Mihara boasts the biggest papermachee Daruma
statue of all Japan (Nippon Ichi 日本一).
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http://www.tako.ne.jp/~madono/sitetop2/rokal/sinmei1.jpg
http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~moriyasu/sinmei.html
In the yearly magazine Nr. 8 of the Daruma Association there is an article
about this Daruma Market in Mihara. There is also a list of Daruma Markets
all over Japan.
だるま会報8号に三原神明祭りの記事もあります。日本の大規模、中規模の市情報もあります。
Now let us look at some English homepages about Daruma festivals in alphabetical
order. Most will be picked up again in Part 2.
Doro Ichi, an outdoor Daruma Market in Tokyo 泥市
Doro Ichi is the name given to a special outdoor market specializing in
Daruma New Year's dolls and other New Year's decorations. This special
one-day market will be held in front of the Yatabe branch office of city
hall on Tuesday, Dec. 28th, and should be an interesting sight even if
you are not interested in actually buying any decorations for your home
or apartment. If, however, you would like to pick up some unusual souvenirs
to take back with you, this should be a good opportunity.
The term Doro Ichi literally means mud market and has two possible linguistic
origins. One is that traditionally December was the month when dorobo
(thieves, literally mud sticks) were most active. The other theory is
that it had to do with the muddy roads of December and that when people
went shopping on such roads, they tended to get muddy.
http://www.alientimes.org/1999/13-11december.html
Fumon-Ji Daruma Fair, Kiryuu, Gunma Pref. 普門寺だるま市、桐生
Held on the second weekend in January.
http://www.outdoorjapan.com/festivals-events/events-gunma.html
http://www.kiea.jp/Fumonji.html
Futaba Daruma Fair 双葉だるま市
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Held in front of the JR Futaba Station from January 10th to 11th, this
lively event is over 300 years old. A large Daruma is paraded through
the streets as a symbol of good luck and prosperity. Various other events
will also be taking place.
http://www.worldvillage.org/gy/gyold/14007.html
Iizumi Kannon Daruma Fair 飯泉観音だるま市
This is a magnificent Daruma Doll fair, which has over 400 years history.
Many shops of Daruma Dolls (symbol of good luck) will stand in row along
the precinct of the temple of Iiizumi-Kannon and the area is alive until
late at night.
http://www.kanagawa-kankou.or.jp/english/hot_news/0012_news.html#07
http://www.doconavi.com/today/calender/200112/syosai3.html
Kita-In Daruma Market in Kawagoe, Saitama, on January 3rd. 喜多院、川越
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http://www.city.kawagoe.saitama.jp/kawa20e.htm
http://anemone.keisen.ac.jp/Internet_English/IE2b/Projects/SHIBUYANORIKO/kawagoe.htm
Konpira Shrine Festival, Iwaki City 金毘羅神社祭り、岩城市
This shrine is known as the home of the guardian deity for seafarers and
fishermen. Its Daruma Fair attracts many visitors.
http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/kanko/k_hp_e/data_m/62253.html
Maebashi Daruma Market 前橋の初市
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The First Market of the New Year with a history stretching back 360
years. The Daruma Market is held each year on January 9th. Thousands of
people flock to the downtown area of Maebashi to purchase a daruma doll
in hopes that it will bring prosperity.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/MI/eng/JCN/news6-1/news6-1.html
Miharu Daruma Fair 三春だるま市
Held on the 15th of January in Miharu-machi(三春町) near Koriyama this
event dates back over 300 years. It features a Daruma, numerous roadside
stands, and a drum meet (taiko taikai 太鼓大会). It will be held on the
street in front of the Omachi Public Hall, 10 minutes by bus or a 20 minute
walk from Miharu Station. The above and many other festivals are introduced
on the following HP.
http://www.worldvillage.org/gy/gyold/14007.html
http://www.outdoorjapan.com/festivals-events/events-gunma.html
(Selling Takashiba Daruma)
Mito Daruma Market, Honchoo 水戸のだるま市
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http://sz.redbit.ne.jp/~windmill/cdrom02/05/20020098.htm
Shobu Town Daruma Fair, Saitama Pref. 菖蒲町だるま市
Held in early February.
http://www.town.shobu.saitama.jp/english/history/saiji/winter.html
Various HPs mentioning "Daruma Market".
Teaching material about World Religions, using Daruma to explain Buddhism.
Recommendet for international understanding and world peace activities.
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-S2002/hunter/dahl.htm
Some general remarks about Daruma and its news during the season and
elections.
http://homepage2.nifty.com/RieEzaki/small/daruma.html
Keiko Sakai, a Japanese student, is explaining about Takasaki and Daruma
in Japanese and English. This is mentioned as an example of student activities
on the subject of our Daruma.
http://www1.tcue.ac.jp/home1/english/students01/class14/101178/
On December 24, 2002 there was an article in the Japan Times about some
traditional seasonal activities you might want to check out.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20021224zg.htm
That is all for the year 2002. There will be more on this subject for
the next season.
これで2002年のだるま市情報は終わります。また来年！
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Just one more tip for your First Shrine Visit (hatsumoode 初詣).
The Temple Kawasaki Daishi (of course located in Kawasaki City) is always
very busy during the season. The many shops lining the walk from the station
to the temple are full of traditional fare and you can find some special
Daruma items too. I will talk about this huge Temple and the nearby Chinese
Garden in a separate story.
初詣には川崎大師はお勧めです。だるま市がありませんが仲見世で珍しいだるまたちがいっぱい。それは別
のお話にします。
See you at Part 2.
We wish
you all the best for the New Year!
新年おめでとうございます！
gokuraku@po.harenet.ne.jp
