Kanata Iwasaki at The Sankei Shimbun, JAPAN Forward

It's peak season at Arai Daruma, a small traditional shop in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Beginning with the shop owner, they are busy making daruma dolls for the new year of 2023.

The 150 year old company specializes in handcrafting daruma papier-mâché Japanese dolls. These objects are considered lucky because traditionally, when they are knocked over, they never fall down.

Each year starting from November, Arai makes new daruma dolls in the image of a zodiac animal for the following year. And the rabbit is the animal for 2023 in the Asian 12-year cyclical calendar.

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By - grape Japan editorial staff.