A Quick Look at the Daruma Market

So the prior post was about the pictures I took while at the market for Daruma (those plump looking red things).  This one is a really quick update to show you the video I made of my visit.  It's really quick, stupidly simple but quite indicative of the area, at least I think so.  Check it out here:

Daruma Festival

So there was a daruma festival a week or so ago.  If you're wondering what a daruma is, here you go:

The idea is that you buy one, fill in an eyeball, make a wish or some kind of resolution for the coming year and then, when the wish is fulfilled, fill in the second eye.  I think you also burn or destroy the daruma once the year is up.

The vast majority are red, with white eyes and some writing on the front or back.  Occasionally you'll see gold or white ones; at this festival there were also blue ones but I've no idea what the differences are.

There was also this wooden statue in front of the main shrine, I have no idea what it was for but very few people approached it.  Those who did rubbed it, for luck perhaps?

The figure was very obviously worn, I wonder if it was more popular in the past or if there's a separate event dedicated to this deity (if it's a god at all).  Maybe it's just really old?

The obligatory incense bowl in front, every shrine that's big enough seems to have one of these.

Everyone was having something written on their daruma, once again I'm terrible at this kind of thing because I have no idea what it says.

The finished article.  Maybe this was last years model, hence both eyes being filled in?  Maybe I'll learn, one day.