The image of Daruma can be seen all over Japan, and yet his significance remains impressively amorphous. This roly poly figure looks like a children’s toy,  but he crops up in the most unusual places.  Outside a karaoke bar.  On the face of a pachinko machine.  Hanging from a reaview mirror.  Or dangling from a cellphone strap, next to Hello Kitty.

Daruma’s whiskers can seem menacing, and he sometimes snarls, but his countenance is usually benign.   And there’s an interesting story behind his blank stare.  In Looking for the Lost, Alan Booth provides the best description of Daruma I’ve come across.

"Daruma is the Japanese name for Bodhidharma, the Indian sage whom legend credits with having introduced Zen Buddhism to China.  He is said to have meditated for nine years in a cave and during that time his arms and legs atrophied; as a result the Japanese, being infinitely more comfortable with outward appearances than inward illuminations, associate him not with piety, but with roundness.  Thus a snowman in Japanese is a "snow Daruma" and a pot-bellied stove is called a "Daruma stove." One of the commonest talismans of good luck is an armless and legless Daruma doll, made of papier mache and sold at shrines and fairs.  The doll is eyeless as well as armless and legless (another legends credits Daruma with having cut off his eyelids in a rage because he had dozed off during a meditation; they fell to the ground and sprouted as tea plants) and purchasers of the dolls paint in one of the eyes when they make a wish and the other when the wish is fulfilled."

I love the idea of a do-it-yourself religious icon.  Therefore, my new "Dr. Daruma" design features one eye filled in and one eye empty.   A Japanese person seeing it would know that you’ve made a wish, and just might say say, "It’s your lucky day!"  I added streamers that overlap the rolling dolls which add to Daruma’s good-natured ways.,

Best of all, Dr. Daruma is a hooked cotton rug. That’s right– Old Japan meets homespun Americana. It seems fitting for a Buddhist household saint making the trip to Western soil. The humble rag rug was never meant to last forever, and, like Daruma himself. doesn’t mind showing its age.  

The good vibes from Dr. Daruma make it ideal for an entranceway or guest room.  He would also be a good candidate for a porch or playroom as well.  We’re stocking smaller sizes so it can be used as a throw rug, and the cropped versions are just as interesting as larger repeats.  

The document palette is violet, brown, and grey.  The violet reminds me of Japanese incense, and so I called this colorway Kyoto.  From what I hear, however, I think Dr. Daruma would be more at home in Berlin than Kyoto.  He’s seen enough of faded temples and tranquil gardens.  And, when he’s not meditating, I hear he likes to check out the underground music scene.