Daruma

Shiko Tsutsumi

Member of Seimo Mita-kai, 1973 Law

On the first and second days of the New Year, the "Earliest Takasaki Daruma Market in Japan" was held with full traffic restrictions on the main street at the West Exit of the station, bustling with 400,000 visitors again this year. Until a few years ago, it was held at Shorinzan Daruma-ji Temple of the Obaku sect, located in a hilly area about 5 kilometers west of the station. From the evening of January 6th (Nanakusa) through the 7th, the approach to the temple grounds was a great success with about a hundred street stalls and Daruma shops. Furthermore, the market began to be held even earlier in front of the station as well.

Why did Takasaki's Daruma become so famous? It began in the late Edo period when smallpox outbreaks occurred frequently. According to folk tradition, red Daruma dolls were believed to be effective against the disease, which seems to have spread throughout the region. Additionally, a man named Tomogoro Yamagata from Toyooka Village brought doll-making techniques back from Saitama to his hometown, resulting in the current design. The climate and landscape—where sunny days continue with low temperatures and dry air during the winter agricultural off-season, along with the famous "karakkaze" (dry wind)—were likely suitable for outdoor work. In one of the nation's leading sericulture regions, farmers whose income fluctuated greatly depending on the year probably relied on them as lucky charms.

Taishu Kawano

Chief Priest of Rinko-ji Temple (Rinzai School Kencho-ji Sect), Psychiatrist, 2005 Medicine

October 5th is Daruma-ki (the anniversary of Bodhidharma's death). Bodhidharma, the motif for the "Daruma-san" doll, was the 28th generation descendant from Buddha and the founder who established Zen Buddhism in China. Although he left no writings during his lifetime, the "Ninyu Shigyo-ron" (Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices), compiled by his disciples, explains the nature of Zen practice through two elements: "Ri-nyu" (Entrance through Principle), which enters through knowledge, and "Gyo-nyu" (Entrance through Practice), which enters through action. Simply learning Zen knowledge can actually lead the mind into a state of self-binding. Conversely, moving around recklessly without knowledge will not free the mind from delusions. It is a teaching that liberation from the suffering of living is only obtained when wisdom is accompanied by the practice of training based on that wisdom.

I myself learn from Daruma-san's teachings every day while involved in psychiatric practice and maintaining my family temple, but embodying them is an extremely difficult task. It seems difficult to continue Zazen until one's limbs rot away like that doll. That is why I sometimes ask the Daruma on the hanging scroll: "For the coming era, wouldn't a slightly more 'gentle and easy' Zazen be okay too?"

Kazumichi Otani

Teacher at Keio Yochisha Elementary School

"Let's be good children, with unified spirit" is the final part of the lyrics to the "Yochisha Song." Perhaps following these words, almost all class-based events at the Yochisha Sports Day are competitions where several people cooperate to run. One of these is the third-graders' "Daruma Carry." A large Daruma is placed on a platform resembling a wide stretcher, and students run with it, go around a flag, and return to the baton zone.

The Daruma is huge, and it takes four children to carry the platform and run, but if it falls, it is difficult for the children to put it back on. To keep the wobbling Daruma from falling, the four must unify their spirits to carry it. Turning around the flag skillfully is a daunting task, and each group researches how to turn well and fast. Unless each person fulfills their role and the four synchronize their breathing, they cannot carry it well. It is truly a competition where independence and self-respect coexist with respect for others through symbiosis.

They want to win, and they want to receive the taiyaki reward from their homeroom teacher. Whether aware of such worldly desires or not, the Daruma on the platform will likely be carried along again this year, dancing slightly as it goes.

Masahiro Kishima

Teacher at Keio Senior High School

Climbing gently up the Nishi-Izu Skyline west of Shuzenji, one reaches a watershed at the highest point of 982 meters. This main peak is Mount Daruma. There is a theory that it was likened to the seated Bodhidharma, but the ridgeline seen from the Shuzenji side is gentle and does not give that impression. The view from the summit is spectacular, offering a panoramic view of Suruga Bay and the setting sun to the southwest and west, and the majestic Mount Fuji towering over the back of Suruga Bay to the north.

Mount Daruma is a volcano that was active about one million years ago. The Izu Peninsula was formed by southern islands moving north and colliding with Honshu; at that time, just before the collision, they were separated by a narrow strait. Mount Daruma grew by discharging low-viscosity lava and eventually became the junction between Izu and Honshu. At this time, neither Hakone nor Fuji had yet appeared, and the Tanzawa mountain range would have been visible from the summit of Mount Daruma. Eventually, from around 600,000 years ago when Mount Daruma's activity slowed, Hakone and Fuji began to grow. Mount Hakone erupted repeatedly, becoming a complex mountain with a caldera. Mount Fuji swallowed up pre-existing volcanoes and continues to grow today. Mount Daruma, which finished its activity early, quietly watches over the ever-changing landscape.