Daruma market at Jindaiji

Jindai-ji in Chōfu, western Tokyo, hosts an annual Daruma-ichi each March 3rd–4th, where worshippers buy and have consecrated the round, red papier-mâché Daruma dolls modelled on Bodhidharma. Morimura's print depicts the temple precinct dense with stalls and rows of Darumas, the flat circular forms repeated across the picture plane as a patterned field of vermilion against the timber and tile of the temple buildings. The composition lends itself to his geometric handling — a single saturated red recurring across hundreds of small forms, set against the muted browns and greens of the precinct. Each Daruma's painted face is articulated by the keyblock, while the flat color blocks carry the body. The subject sits within his market and festival group, a smaller strand of his oeuvre that documents seasonal religious gatherings alongside the quieter temple-and-shrine architectural prints. The work is printed mokuhanga on washi from hand-cut cherry blocks.