Cook
Learn
Daruma – Manufacturing
In the city of Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture is Imai Daraumu Naya co, a family business that has been hand-painting Daruma for over 90 years. A Daruma starts life as a mixture of egg cartons and washi paper, this mixture is vacuum formed and then covered with crushed seashells. The conch shell gives the classic red color (also known as Daruma Red) more luster.
Daruman is dipped in vats of the red dye and then air-dried outdoors on stakes tucked into hay bales. The red color is the most classic and is the one that most people recognize but a Daruma can come in all sorts of colors, each color with its own meaning.
Finally, all details are painted by hand in their small studio, each facial feature stemming from a long history. Daruman's hair growth is modeled after two animals – the eyebrows after the crane's brow and the mustache after the turtle's shell. In Japan, these animals symbolize a long life and refer to the proverb "The crane lives for 1,000 years, the turtle lives for 10,000 years".
All materials are carefully selected and free of environmental toxins, perfect because at the end of each year when you have fulfilled your goal, filled the other eye and it is time to say thank you, it is traditional to set it on fire.