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  Around the New Year, shrine and temple stalls are often
are often filled with roly-poly daruma dolls. Depicting the founder of Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma, who lost the use of his
limbs after years of motionless meditation, the figure symbolized persistance and the attainment of a goal. When new, the eyes are blank.
Purchasers customarily paint in one large black pupil when embarking on a cherished project, and fill in the other only if
success is granted.
As well as being a time of beginnings and
new resolve, the New Year represents the passing away of old cares and resolutions. For this reason many people
return their old dolls to shrines and temples at the New Year, taking the opportunity to purchase a new one at
the same time. The illustrated daruma, some with the second eye still unpainted, are ones that were
left for ritual burning at Hanazono Shrine in Tokyo.
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