Shorinzan Nanakusa Taisai Daruma Market Festival

Shorinzan Daruma-ji in Takasaki, Gunma, holds the "Shorinzan Nanakusa Taisai Daruma Market Festival" every January 6 and 7. Daruma vendors line the approach to the main hall (Reifu-do) and Daruma-do, selling lucky daruma dolls of all sizes. The market is said to have begun in the mid-Edo period, when the temple's abbot carved wooden molds and taught villagers how to make papier-mâché daruma to sell as lucky charms. The early hours of January 7 are considered an auspicious time for the temple's guardian deity to descend, and the festival draws large crowds from the evening before. The temple's official site already has vendor applications open for the 2027 edition, continuing a New Year tradition that has run for over 300 years.