Daruma Dolls

Our new larger Daruma doll (shown above left) has a more detailed face than the smaller Daruma we also sell. The eyebrows are painted in the shape of a tsuru (crane) with the cheek hair resembling the shell of the tortoise (kame).  Both the crane and tortoise are well known in Japan as symbols of longevity as encapsulated in the Japanese proverb "Tsuru wa sennen, kame wa mannen" (the crane lives 1000 years, the tortoise 10,000 years).  The beard of the larger Daruma, as with the smaller dolls, is painted in the shape of Mount Fuju.

A reminder of the Daruma tradition: Daruma are sold with two blank eyes. The recipient paints in one eye when he/she sets out on a task. The presence of the one-eyed Daruma then acts as a constant reminder to its owner of the unfulfilled task. The other eye is filled in when the task has been fulfilled. One explanation of this custom is that the promise to give the Daruma full sight once his/her goal has been achieved motivates the Daruma to grant the wish of its owner!

New Japanese Bag every day!

Furoshiki is a type of Japanese wrapping cloth, traditionally used to wrap/transport gifts and other small items. We are now selling bag handles that can be used with our furoshiki to make a simple bag.

You can find instructions on how to make a furoshiki handbag here

Buy Kimono

Click here to see Japanya's selection of Cotton Kimono / Yukata for both men and women.

Bigger and Better Hyper Japan

Thank you for visiting our stall at the recent Hyper Japan event.  Hope to see you again next year 25-27 July, at HYPER JAPAN 2014!

Mini Daruma

A shipment of daruma arrived today allowing us to restock our goshiki mini daruma set which can be purchased here:

The shipment also contained a selection of new products which we will be selling at our Hyper Japan stall later this month:

Japanya at Japan Day

We had a fantastic day in Liverpool last week running a stall at JSNW's Japan Day.  A big thank you to all our customers.  We are now looking forward to our next event: Hyper Japan at Earls Court (July 26-28th)!

New super cute mini daruma have arrived!

We have just received a shipment of  mini daruma. We will be taking these to Liverpool to sell on our stall at the JSNW`s Japan Day on 1st June.

The default colour for daruma is red; however, daruma are now being made in different colours with the colour of your daruma being relevant to the task you are undertaking.

Both eyes of a daruma are initially blank.  When setting out on a task, the owner paints in one eye. Once the task has been fulfilled the second eye can be painted in!

We will be listing these mini daruma on our website soon.  For the time being you can purchase a red and white daruma pair or a green and blue daruma pair from our Amazon marketplace shop.