BURNING! Daruma!

Hi Y’all, Jorge here. How’s everyone been doing? I recently went to a fascinating event. At Shorinzan Daruma Temple, people and companies bring back the darumas they bought at the beginning of the previous year to burn them. Then, they buy a new one and make a wish for the upcoming year. I learned about this from an online explanation I read beforehand. Isn’t that cool? It’s also a genius way to market buying more darumas, don’t you think?

I didn’t know this before, but apparently, Takasaki is the birthplace of Darumas. It’s even called the Lucky Town. Because Takasaki is very windy and dry, it’s perfect for making Darumas. This custom has been going on for a few hundred years, and recently, the burning ceremony has gotten very popular with travelers. I saw many foreign tourists at the event when I attended, so it’s definitely picking up more steam with people sharing on social media. It’s a great promotion for the Gunma area, especially Takasaki. Have you ever thought about going to the Daruma Doll Burning Festival?

I got lucky and witnessed the festival from start to finish. The temple priests set up the platform with a Buddha statue, and after saying some prayers, they lit a straw stick on fire and slowly went around setting fire to the flint and paper. The fire grew stronger and eventually set all the Darumas ablaze. At one point, we were allowed to get closer to the fire, so of course, I did and felt the intense heat.

Do you like making fires? What’s the biggest one you’ve built? The largest fire I made was at the beach, where we created a large fire pit with stones for protection. But this fire was at least five times larger and three times taller. I was proud of our beach fire, but this one was massive and well-controlled, so it didn’t collapse with the burning darumas. Very safe indeed!

We could get super close to the fire and record videos or take pictures. I went in close to take a video, but wow, getting that close hurt! After about a minute, my hand started hurting, half my face felt very hot, and even my phone began to overheat a bit. By the time I stepped back, my hand was bright red! I didn’t get burned, but it was tingly for a few minutes.

To wrap up the event, I got a special Daruma-shaped omikuji. Inside the little Daruma, you can find your fortune by removing the stopper at the bottom and pulling it out. These omikujis make excellent souvenirs. I got one in Kyoto and another in Okinawa that I keep on my desk. When you travel, what kind of souvenirs do you like to buy? Food, trinkets, postcards, or maybe nothing? Photos might be enough, right?