FILE 001 · GUNMA PREFECTURE
高崎だるま Takasaki regional form
A Takasaki Daruma is the round, traditionally red wishing doll made in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. Its eyebrows are drawn as cranes and its beard as a turtle, and gold wishes are written on its shoulders. It comes with blank eyes: paint the one on your right as you make a wish, and the other when it comes true.
Where to buy oneWHERE TO BUY
Daruma Atlas sells nothing and earns no commission. Each route below is run by the workshop or place that owns the sale.
A Takasaki maker-operated storefront currently presents products and an international market selector.
Before paying: Confirm the named product, material, destination availability, total shipping cost and returns on the live storefront.
Imai Daruma NAYA · EnglishA home painting kit: two 12 cm daruma, plus brush pen, practice sheets and a multilingual instruction guide with a QR video tutorial.
Before paying: ¥4,280 per kit, tax included when checked on 27 August 2026. The English guide links to the online shop but does not settle delivery eligibility, shipping cost or import charges for every destination.
Daimonya Home Painting KitTakasaki workshops sell directly, and Shorinzan Daruma-ji offers blessed daruma at its counter from 9:00 to 17:00. The widest choice is at the New Year markets. Shorinzan Daruma-ji — Hours and offerings
Buying from the UK or elsewhere outside Japan? Compare every checked buying route.
VISIT TAKASAKI
A PURCHASED DARUMA · REAL PHOTOGRAPHS
This is the daruma the publisher bought at Shorinzan Darumaji. The back label reads 少林山 (Shorinzan); a small dot is visible in one eye following the temple's eye-opening ceremony. These photographs document this particular object, not every Takasaki daruma or a named maker's entire range.
Publisher-supplied photographs, added October 5, 2026. Resized and converted to WebP; no generative edits. The existing 3D below is an illustrative study, not a scan or a reconstruction of this photographed object.
Read our temple visit: registration, time and contribution →SOURCE-GUIDED 3D TOUR
Choose one published-source claim. The suggested angle helps you inspect it; it does not turn the reconstruction into proof.
Takasaki City describes a plump, rounded form. The controlled body keeps that silhouette coherent through a complete turn.
Why this angle: Read silhouette, depth and front treatment in one controlled view.
Camera angles are viewing suggestions, not object measurements, authenticity findings or claims that every maker uses one fixed form. The JSON manifest publishes the exact GLB hash, technical audit, claim links and rights boundary; access does not grant reuse rights.
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Load the model, then drag to rotate or use the fixed angle buttons. This PBR model uses shared lighting, scale and a controlled four-view reconstruction so regional silhouettes can be compared fairly. It is an AI-assisted interpretive model, not a scan or an artisan-authenticated digital twin. Exact workshop brushwork and protected patterns are not reproduced.
CLAIM-BY-CLAIM EVIDENCE
Each visual clue below points to the public record used for this file. A source link means the feature is documented there; it does not mean the institution or maker has reviewed this Atlas model.
Takasaki City describes a plump, rounded form. The controlled body keeps that silhouette coherent through a complete turn.
Sweeping eyebrow marks are associated with cranes. Their exact stroke varies by maker and is not reduced to one universal template.
The mustache and beard evoke a turtle, pairing two symbols of longevity before any wish is written.
Rounded form, Takasaki origin, crane eyebrows, turtle mustache and the blank-eye custom.
Paper roughness, lighting and unnamed brush strokes in this Web model.
Workshop-specific gold wishes and calligraphy that require a rights-safe object or maker collaboration.
TAKASAKI DARUMA QUESTIONS
Paint the eye on your right as you face the doll — which is the doll's own left eye. Takasaki City, Shorinzan Daruma-ji and the Takasaki producers' cooperative all point to the same eye; English guides that say “left first” mean the doll's left. Use black ink when you make your wish, and paint the other eye when it comes true. The cooperative calls this the recommended order but adds that, strictly, there is no fixed rule. Other regions and temples can differ.
SourcesTakasaki City — About Takasaki Daruma Shorinzan Daruma-ji — Questions Shorinzan Daruma-ji — Opening Daruma's eyes Takasaki Daruma producers' cooperative — Questions
A Takasaki Daruma is a reminder to keep going toward a goal. The crane eyebrows and turtle beard are both auspicious symbols of long life, and the round, weighted body always rolls back upright — the idea behind the saying “fall seven times, get up eight.” The gold words on its shoulders name the wish.
SourcesTakasaki City — About Takasaki Daruma Takasaki City — History of Takasaki Daruma Gunma Official Tourist Guide — Takasaki Daruma
On a Takasaki Daruma, the belly usually says 福入 (fuku-iri, “fortune comes in”), and the shoulders carry wishes such as 家内安全 (family safety), 商売繁盛 (business success), 大願成就 or 心願成就 (a wish fulfilled) and 目標達成 (goal achieved). Takasaki City notes that lettered daruma like this are unusual elsewhere in Japan. Takasaki City's own pages use both 大願成就 and 心願成就, so the exact wording varies by maker and object.
SourcesTakasaki City — History of Takasaki Daruma Takasaki City — About Takasaki Daruma
A Takasaki Daruma's price depends on its size and maker. On 27 August 2026, a small (about 9 cm) red daruma was listed at ¥750, a Takasaki workshop's two-doll home painting kit was ¥4,280, and an English-language Takasaki maker's designer line started at US$100. Shipping, tax and customs are added on top when you order from abroad. A shop's live page always controls the price.
SourcesDaruma Net — Standard red Daruma · 1-go Daimonya Home Painting Kit Imai Daruma NAYA — Designer’s Daruma
Choose a Takasaki Daruma by where it will sit: roughly 5–12 cm for a desk, 13–29 cm for a home shelf. The Takasaki producers' cooperative describes a custom of buying one size larger after a wish comes true — and the same size again if it didn't. Check the height in centimeters, because size labels such as “1-go” differ between shops.
Buy from a named Takasaki workshop or its own online shop, or in Takasaki itself — from workshops, at Shorinzan Daruma-ji or at the New Year markets. Takasaki City writes the name as 高崎だるま®, so a listing that names the Takasaki workshop is the strongest sign you are getting the regional product. Appearance alone cannot prove the maker, age or origin of an object.
SourcesTakasaki City — History of Takasaki Daruma Shorinzan Daruma-ji — Hours and offerings
The Takasaki producers' cooperative recommends a memorial burning (otakiage) at a temple or shrine, or at a local New Year dondo-yaki fire. Shorinzan Daruma-ji accepts daruma every day from 9:00 to 17:00 at the desk between the main hall and the Daruma hall; there is no set fee. Its largest memorial rite is on 15 January. Shorinzan accepts daruma, talismans and charms only — not other dolls.
SourcesTakasaki Daruma producers' cooperative — Questions Shorinzan Daruma-ji — Daruma memorial rites
No — Takasaki is a city in Gunma Prefecture, north-west of Tokyo. It is just under an hour from Tokyo Station on the Joetsu or Hokuriku Shinkansen, or about two hours by regular train. Shorinzan Daruma-ji, the daruma temple, is about 20 minutes by bus from Takasaki Station, or a 15-minute walk from Gunma-Yawata Station.
SourcesJNTO — Takasaki and beyond Gunma Official Tourist Guide — Shorinzan Darumaji Temple
The main Takasaki Daruma Market is held in the New Year period, and Shorinzan Daruma-ji holds its own daruma market in early January. Dates change every year, so check the next edition on Takasaki City's and the temple's pages before booking travel. Outside January you can still buy from Takasaki workshops or receive a daruma at Shorinzan Daruma-ji.
SourcesStart with Takasaki City Check Shorinzan Darumaji Shorinzan Daruma-ji — Hours and offerings
Yes — you can paint your own Takasaki Daruma. Takasaki City says workshops in the city offer painting sessions where you draw the eyes and beard yourself. Some list English-language guide routes, so compare the current options and book directly with the workshop. If you can't travel, a Takasaki workshop sells a home painting kit with two 12 cm daruma and instructions.
SourcesTakasaki City — About Takasaki Daruma Daimonya Home Painting Kit
Answers checked against the named sources on 25 September 2026. Also asked: Is a Daruma a god? · Is it OK to get a Daruma tattoo? · What does each Daruma color mean? · Where should I place a Daruma?
VERIFICATION STATUS
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Prepared does not mean reviewed. A factual correction would not grant image, design, model, merchandise or endorsement rights.
PRIMARY TRAIL
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