Five popular characters from the popular horror fantasy series GeGeGe no Kitaro have been transformed into Daruma dolls! Two Daruma Land locations in Fukushima Prefecture have begun selling these curious items, with sales going live on August 26, 2022. Fans can choose from Kitaro, Neko Musume, Nezumi Otoko, Sunakake Babaa, or Konaki Jijii, and each Daruma doll features an entirely new image of each character’s face drawn by popular illustrator and creator Tsumupapa. 

The company producing the dolls, Shirakawa Daruma, has been creating Daruma for over 300 years, and each authentic Japanese piece is produced by a craftsman adhering to traditional techniques. The palm-sized Daruma is around 45mm, perfect for displaying on a desk or shelf. Each comes with a cushion made of Aizu cotton, a well-known craft in Fukushima. These cushions were made to resemble Kitaro’s sleeveless kimono jacket from the series!

Shirakawa Daruma Souhonpo in Fukushima Prefecture, which has been in business since the end of the Edo period, is now selling seven Tokyo Revengers-themed daruma. These good luck items are available both at Daruma Land on the second floor of S-PAL Koriyama in Shirakawa City and at the Shirakawa Daruma online store. 

Some characters available in Daruma form are Takemichi, Mikey, and Draken. Shirakawa Daruma Souhonpo, which has been in business for 300 years, makes use of Japanese traditional techniques to form each doll by hand. These palm-sized dolls are only 45mm long and are perfect for decorating any room. 

Let these Tokyo Revengers-themed good luck charms make this the best year ever!

Leather brand OJAGA DESIGN will release a line of Daruma keychains inspired by the popular series Chibi Maruko-chan! Maruko and Cojicoji keychains are now available for preorder at the brand’s online store.

OJAGA DESIGN features goods made in Japan, with each piece dyed, cut, and hand-sewn at a workshop in Tachikawa City, Tokyo.

These new keychains show the popular characters as Daruma, symbols of good luck in Japan. 

These lucky items come in six colors total, with Maruko available in red, white, or yellow, and Cojicoji available in red, white, or black. They can be used not only as a normal keychain, but as a bag charm or luggage tag!

©さくらプロダクション／日本アニメーション
© さくらももこ

From October 13 to October 27, artists are flocking to BONUS TRACK Gallery in Shimokitazawa to display some incredible works based on daruma, a type of lucky Japanese traditional doll. These works will also be up for sale in an online auction happening during the event period!

October 2020 Exhibition

October 2020 Exhibition

The motif of BONUS TRACK is the daruma, which are seen as symbols of perseverance and good luck in Japanese culture. This marks the third time that artists have been invited to create and sell their daruma-inspired works.

20% of the final bid price for each piece will be donated to various organizations. 30% will be given to the venue, while 50% will be given to the artists themselves. 

During the first event, donations went towards the Nippon Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund for Coronavirus. Other organizations supported include the Kitazawa Osekkai Club, a group involved in PTA and youth committee activities in the area, and Peace Wanko Japan, a dog protection organization in Hiroshima. 

A daruma doll inspired by Amabie has been released by Hanjiro, a company that has been making Shirakawa daruma dolls for 300 years. The dolls were released exclusively online in Japan on April 27 and shipping will begin rolling out from May 6.

Amabie is a three-legged mermaid or merman in Japanese folklore that is set to emerge from the sea to warn of and bring good luck during epidemics. The creature has trended on Japanese social media recently in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Amabie Daruma – ¥1,500 (Before Tax)

Each Amabie daruma doll is handcrafted individually using traditional Japanese methods. It comes in a pastel pink colour and is a great way to brighten up the mood during this dark time. The dolls were created with the prayer in mind for the pandemic to come to an end.

D-BROS, a brand featuring products made by graphic designers, is celebrating GINZA SIX’s second anniversary by holding a workshop titled “Nihon o Asobou #04 My Daruma” on April 19.

D-BROS began the “Nihon o Asobou” (Play With Japan) workshop project in 2018 as a way to get more people enjoying and in traditional Japanese culture and design. They have people making items that have been passed down the generations in Japan such as children’s toys, charms and folk crafts.

The new workshop will give people the opportunity to create their very own 11cm Takasaki Daruma. This style of daruma originates in Takasaki, Gunma which is the leading producer of daruma dolls in Japan.

If you’re in Tokyo on April 19 and are looking for a spot of Japanese tradition then stop by GINZA SIX and learn how make your own personal daruma doll.

An established daruma (Japanese traditional doll which brings good luck) specialized store which has been running its business since the Edo Period called, “Shirakawa Daruma Sohonpo” and Fukushima Prefecture will sell their collaborative products (the second stage of the project called “Fukushima Mono Map which introduces Fukushima’s “things, events and people”) at BEAMS JAPAN (Shinjuku, Tokyo) which introduces many kinds of Japan’s cultural items.

This project was started because the buyers of BEAMS JAPAN read Fukushima’s information magazine “Fukushima Map” and visited Fukushima to understand the current situation of Fukushima.

The products will be sold at BEAMS JAPAN’s stores and their official online shop. They are also planning to distribute “Fukushima Map” (Japanese/English) inside the stores.

Why not get your very own Japan-limited daruma.