I don't remember the exact location, but there used to be an outdoor daruma doll market, right next to a temple honoring the Bodhidarma, founder of Zen Buddhism. Maybe it's still there. I often passed by it when I rode my bicycle on many a Saturday, during my high school years at a certain international school in Tokyo. My solitary Saturday bike rides were a precious escape from the dormitory, from high school social life, and from group-life and group-think in general.
I would pack myself a lunch and swing my leg over the saddle, give the handle bars an encouraging pat, and off we galloped (my bike and I) into the urban wilderness. I loved to get utterly lost in the maze-like sprawl of greater Tokyo, and then find my way home again before it got dark. Only, no matter how lost I thought I was, I always ended up in the vicinity of this daruma market. It became my habit to stop off there to eat my lunch and take pleasure in the piles of bright, orangey-red paper-mache dolls.
Anyway, that's part of the reason I have a soft spot for daruma dolls. I really like the daruma etegami I made for my EarthQuake Series, so I decided to do another series featuring daruma. I think I'll call this one my Holiday Daruma Series. Probably most of them will be tongue-in-cheek. We'll see.
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Nice job Debbie. I loved the daruma etegami you made for the EarthQuake series. This one is splendid also!
ReplyDeleteA lovely fusion of your heritage and your environment, viva cross cultural references!..hope this makes sense!
ReplyDeleteHow nice to be able to put one's souvenir in actual realizations!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to learn about Daruma dolls - and love your paintings.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just your beautiful etegamis but also the fascinating stories you share which makes your posts worth looking forward to.
ReplyDeleteHey Deb, sorry I’ve been away. Been a bit under the weather. Glad I stopped over tho! Great way to combine your passions! Love this! Nice take on the topic ;o)
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures and the story, too!
ReplyDeleteThis made me think back to the Hagoita Festival in Asakusa. There would be row after row of beautiful hagoitas. I would get lost in them trying to figure out which I wanted this year...which I could afford. As I would be debating the merits of Fuji Musume vs. Musume Dojoji I would round the corner and run smack dab into a vendor selling nothing but Daruma. There were hundreds of them looking at me with their wide eyes. Happened every year and every year it made me laugh. It was pretty easy to decide what to do - I bought a Daruma. Thanks for jogging the memory.
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