Shōrinzan Darumaji

photo by fum3670045 · CC BY 3.0

photo by 高橋文武 · CC BY 3.0

Founded in 1697 to protect Maebashi Castle: this is where the Takasaki daruma began.

The temple was founded in 1697 to protect the unlucky direction (裏鬼門) of Maebashi Castle, according to tradition after a black log fished out of the river was carved with the image of the patriarch Daruma. The custom of the good-luck daruma of Takasaki, today Japan's leading production centre, began here. The main gate (総門), built in the same gabled style as the head temple, Manpuku-ji in Uji, dates from 1997, for the three-hundredth anniversary of the temple's founding. Every year, on the night from 6 to 7 January, the temple hosts the 七草大祭だるま市, with daruma stalls open all night until dawn on the 7th, a day considered auspicious.

少林山達磨寺 is a temple of the Ōbaku school, founded according to tradition in 1697 on a rise west of Takasaki, to protect Maebashi Castle symbolically from the direction considered unlucky in Japanese feng shui. The custom of the Takasaki daruma, the round dolls without painted pupils that you buy for a wish and complete when it comes true, began here: the city still produces most of Japan's daruma today. The current entrance gate, built in 1997 for the three-hundredth anniversary, follows the style of the head temple, Manpuku-ji in Uji, the founding temple of the Ōbaku school in Japan.

ℹ️ Temple offices and daruma hall open 9:00–17:00; prayers can be booked until 16:00. Free car park. Entry appears to be by donation; check on the official site. From Takasaki Station, about 20 minutes by taxi; no direct bus routes appear in the information available. ⚠️ On the night of 6–7 January (七草大祭だるま市) the temple stays open all night and the area fills with stalls.

🚉 Gunma-Yawata · 18 min walk

Sources: daruma.or.jp · tabiiro.jp · gunlabo.net

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