Video: Jindaiji Daruma Festival
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
I must admit I didn’t know alot about this festival until recently when I found a couple of YouTube videos and decided to find out more.
The Jindaiji Temple Daruma Fair (深大寺だるま市) takes place annually on March 3rd and 4th at the Jindaiji Temple in Tokyo.
Built in 733, Jindaiji (深大寺) is Tokyo’s 2nd largest temple – Asakusa’s Sensoji is the largest and a major tourist attraction.
The history of the festival dates to the mid-Edo period (18th century) and has become a popular symbol of the beginning of spring.
The Japanese people use Daruma (だるま) dolls as lucky charms by filling in one eye of the daruma after their wish has come true.
These videos offer a fantastic look inside this festival from the grounds of the Jindaiji Temple. Sit back and watch fullscreen!
Visit the Jindaiji Temple website for more information – although it is all in Japanese (good reading practice or you can cheat with Google Translate ^^)
View Jindaiji Temple in a larger map
