Daruma for 2020

Have you ever heard of Daruma? It’s a paper mâché good luck doll. My sister in Japan gave one to me and told me to hold on to it as a lucky charm.

This Daruma usually comes with both eyes blank, and we fill in the iris of the left eye while trying to achieve a goal…I actually accomplished one when I advanced to candidacy in graduate school (wohoo!), but my daruma’s eyes are both blank.. I better create one eye.

Anyways, I want to introduce this “Daruma store” called Arai Darumaya which is located in Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan. This store is unique because they sell only Darumas. It is unlikely to find a store that sells just that in Japan.

You would find different kinds of daruma in gift shops in Japan. This shop is unique because it found its niche in eto dramas. Eto is the zodiac calendar and this shop has been following the Japanese zodiac calendar and sell adorable handmade animal darumas.