Source: It’s the busiest time of year at Arai Daruma shop which is making rabbit daruma dolls representing the zodiac animal of 2023. Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture (© Sankei by Kanata Iwasaki) | Photo courtesy of © JAPAN Forward

Adorable rabbit Daruma are jumping into the New Year

Kanata Iwasaki at The Sankei Shimbun, JAPAN Forward

It's peak season at Arai Daruma, a small traditional shop in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Beginning with the shop owner, they are busy making daruma dolls for the new year of 2023.

The 150 year old company specializes in handcrafting daruma papier-mâché Japanese dolls. These objects are considered lucky because traditionally, when they are knocked over, they never fall down.

Each year starting from November, Arai makes new daruma dolls in the image of a zodiac animal for the following year. And the rabbit is the animal for 2023 in the Asian 12-year cyclical calendar.

(...)

Japan Forward

Written by Japan ForwardThe continuation of this article can be read on the "Japan Forward" site.
[Hidden Wonders of Japan] Adorable Rabbit Daruma are Jumping Into the New Year

By - grape Japan editorial staff.

Tags:
/ / /