Earrings mimikazari

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Earrings ... Mimikazari
Daruma and his Earrings
耳飾りと達磨さん

If you look closely at the many pictures and statues of Daruma, you realize that sometimes he is depicted as a real human monk in situations of his life, for example the story when Daruma leaves for India and is seen in the Pamir Mountains.
(See the story about Sekiri Daruma.)


source :　www.nanao-cci.or.jp
Painting by Hasegawa Tohaku 長谷川等伯


There are 73 pictures of Daruma iconography (Daruma-zu 達磨図) to be found in Japan and in 37 of them (51%) he wears earrings of some kind. Some seem to be in the form of a Wishfulfilling Jewel (mani hooju 魔尼宝珠), or made of silver or gold.

Maybe the circle of Zen Symbolism (ensoo円相) is also represented in these round Earrings?

Some other pictures show Daruma with a large hole in his earlobe, but without a ring. Maybe he forgot to put on his rings? In Chinese pictures he usually wears his rings.
In pictures of Esoteric Buddhism (mikkyoo　密教) you find many statues with earrings.


When did the earrings first appear in Japan?
Maybe in pictures of the famous Chinese Monk Sanzoo Hooshi (三蔵法師), who went to India to get the sutras? Do the earrings have a special meaning in the various Buddhist sects of Japan?




On the pictures checked there were 42 with Daruma looking to the right (58%), 17 looking to the left (23%) and 14 looking straight forward.
Well, what does this tell us?

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source :　勢山社　Art gallery

Daruma Daishi 達磨大師


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Visiting a Zen temple in Kamakura researching about Buddha statues, the priest told me the following:

"The Buddha statues represent Shakyamuni in different forms of his life and enlightened power. As a Nyorai (如来), he is fully enlightened and does not need any more worldly attire. So these statues are usually very simple and without jewellery. Statues of Kannon (観音) and other bodhisattvas (bosatsu菩薩) represent the Buddha before the final enlightenment, so they are still in a worldly fashion and wear a lot of jewellery, after all Shakyamuni was a prince himself and thus had to wear heavy earrings of gold or silver. That is why his earlobes are shown with a big hole and hanging down heavily. If you want to get enlightenment, you better start by imitating the Nyorai himself."

And believe me, from that day 20 years ago I have never worn any jewellery again! Not that it matters with the enlightenment process...

Applying this wisdom to Daruma, maybe the pictures with earrings show him as a struggeling human being, before the Nine Years of Wall Gazing (menpeki kunen 面壁九年). And the pictures without rings represent him as an enlightened power, a symbol of the Zen Wisdom he himself embodied. If you have some ideas about this problem, please share them with me.

I will show you some samples of my collection with earrings as a special feature of a Daruma representation. By the way, they are sometimes called
"Lucky Ears" (fukumimi 福耳).



source :　www.marukojozo.co.jp

fuku mimi miso 福耳みそ "miso named lucky ears"
a pun with mimi and miso paste.


. Japanese Miso Culture .
(みそ or 味噌)


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source :　ryukyuootayaki

達磨図大皿：平良幸春作
故名嘉山寿山先生画


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Daruma himself as an earring!



© PHOTO : www.clayvision.com

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source :　bizenyaki-hanafusa.blog

Seated Daruma 達磨大師坐像

This is a special piece of Bizen pottery.
His earrings on both ears are free to be moved!　It takes a special process to fire such a piece.


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carved in bamboo


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Daruma with earrings from my collection
(Photos TBA)

The following two have special metal earrings sticking out.


This one has two earrings, one of the 14 percent looking straigt at you. He is engraved on a piece of bamboo.


. Kites with Daruma and Earrings .


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. Ears for Daruma 達磨の耳　だるまの耳 .

. Mimikaki 耳掻き Earcleaner .

. Mimi 耳お守り amulets for ears .


. Jewelry ジューリー with Daruma .
kubikazari 首飾り - nekkuresu ネックレス necklace
mimikazari　耳飾り earrings
yubiwa 指輪 fingerring

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source :　shiga/tayori



. Otsu Paintings (大津絵) .


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