Daruma are traditional Japanese dolls. And while they may seem rather simple, they are actually highly symbolic and powerful symbols of good luck.
Daruma are modeled after the Bodhidharma, founder of Zen Buddhism. There are a wealth of stories and legends surrounding the Daruma, but the one that seems to be passed around most often is that the Bodhidharma embarked on a nine-year long meditation, during which time his legs atrophied and fell off--thus the legless nature of Daruma dolls.
Aside from this rather disturbing history, Daruma are considered to be sources of good luck, as well as protection against misfortune and accidents. They also symbolize the spirit of perseverance, as they are made with weights in their bases so that they right themselves when they are knocked over---thus inspiring the well-known Japanese saying "Nanakorobi Yaoki", or "seven times down, eighth time up" (however, the backstory of the determined dedication of the leg-sacrificing Bodhidharma also has a lot to do with this).
Daruma also have another function--to fulfill wishes. When you buy (or are given) a daruma, their eyes are blank--no pupils. Your task is to set a goal or wish for yourself and color in the pupil of one eye. When you have achieved your goal, or when your wish has been fulfilled, you color in the other eye. My mom seems to think there is something to this. During our first foray into Japan, way back in 1995, I got my mom a small daruma. She didn't make a wish at first, setting it on a shelf where it stayed until 2003, when we first embarked on the whole kidney donation brouhaha. She made a wish for a successful transplant, and colored in one eye. Nearly a year later, in early 2004, after my left kidney was successfully relocated to her, she colored in the other eye.
So I like Daruma a lot, and rather identify with them. And this week, in the still moments of the early mornings, I discovered that I rather enjoy drawing them as well. So if you see random daruma sketches peppered around my blog or Facebook, you now know why.
But aside from the wonders of daruma, things have picked up this last week. Patrick and Aya started Japanese lessons. And wonder of wonders, they not only like their tutor, but their Japanese neurons seem to be slowly activating. Which delights me to no end. The flip side of this is that they now have no problem toting themselves--and my money--off to convenience stores to get the very junk food I usually don't buy. As a result, we have re-instated a modest allowance for each of them. It is now up to them whether they choose to blow it on Japanese soda, or save it towards a bigger goal. Knowing them, this would be bigger bottles of Japanese soda.
I have also been discovering the nooks and crannies of our neighborhood stores. This week's satisfying purchase was a rug for our toilet room (Japanese houses have separate rooms for the bath and the toilet. Oh so logical when one person wants to use the toilet and one person wants to take a shower.). For the past few weeks I have been puttering around larger department stores, trying to justify spending 1000 yen on a teeny toilet room rug. Then I went to the neighborhood grocery store, which is just a few blocks away from us. And I discovered that only the FIRST floor has groceries. The second floor has cleaning and household goods. And the THIRD floor has clothing and textiles...including blankets and rugs.
Well, you can see from my picture the rug I found. For only 300 yen. Okay, you can draw whatever conclusions you want from the pun, but I find it amusing. I feel I am allowed to enjoy this pun because I grew up reading Winnie the Pooh books way before Winnie the Pooh exploded into a commercialized sensation.
I also enjoy the way we are left with the equally amusing "ooh" when one of our cats--in this case Doko--decides to sit on the letter "P".
One must find amusement where one can.
The upcoming week holds a variety of tasks and challenges for us. Bob will be endeavoring to acquire a Japanese credit card. With this card we are hoping to place a "Flying Pig" order ("Flying Pig" is an online service that delivers imported and Costco items throughout Japan). Among other things on our "Flying Pig" list are peanut butter ("Costco sized), dry cat food (Costco sized) and flour tortillas (again, Costco sized).
Patrick is pushing for us to order "American style" bacon.....of course.
We are also gearing up to make a trek out to the home store "Nitori" to get provisions for the incoming winter, which we can feel sneaking in at night when the temperatures drop and the house slowly turns into a large refrigerator. Thus our quest for thick blankets and a pad and cover set for our kotatsu (heated coffee table).
Money in, money out.
Until next time......
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