Learn to paint the face on a Daruma

To coincide with London Design Festival, this September at wagumi we will be hosting a chance to connect with one of Japan’s most classic designs: Daruma wishing dolls.

Daruma have been a repository for wishes and goals in Japan through the ages, with painting the face a central part of the experience.

Famously one eye should be painted when a goal is set, the other when it is achieved. But before this, there is also the task to set the scene for your aim by painting the eyebrows in the shape of a crane, and the whiskers, curved like a turtle’s shell.

At our workshops we will offer participants the chance to undertake the full Daruma painting experience with its elements of calligraphy and art.

Working with Yoshida Daruma, a specialist maker in the heartland production area of Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture, we have prepared four original colours of blank canvas Daruma to match colour trends in 2017* (*different to those pictured above, they include a soft blue, and moss green).

Already unique, they will become more so with the facial design that you create.

The workshops will be for 4-5 people per session and last around 30 minutes to an hour. The ticket price includes the cost of materials, instruction and one Daruma to paint and take home** (**this is for one small size daruma, with the option to 'upgrade' to a larger one on the day for +£5).

A simple way to set a goal, give a gift, or design an original item for your home: Daruma are a ubiquitous and fun element of Japanese life. We hope you will join us in the Oxo Tower during London Design Week to find out more!