姫だるま
竹田市を訪れると、商店や飲食店、さらには豊後竹田駅構内でも、優しく微笑む紅白のだるまが目に留まるはずだ。この「姫だるま」は竹田独特のもので、町の文化の一部となっている。縁起物とされるだるまは日本全国にあるが、そのほとんどが男性であるのに対し、姫だるまは女性だ。その歴史は江戸時代（1603-1867）にさかのぼり、新年を祝うために家に投げ込まれる伝統的なものだった。
姫だるまは台座が丸く重みがあるため押し倒すことができず、叩いてもすぐに元に戻る。そのため、かつては「起き上がり」とも呼ばれ、家に投げ込まれた際には「起き上がり」と叫ばれた。姫だるまは失敗しても必ず立ち直れるという信念の象徴であり、家庭円満や商売繁盛の象徴でもあった。
姫だるまの伝統は1900年代前半に廃れたが、1950年代に竹田市の後藤恒人によって復活した。後藤は、この「諦めない」だるまが日本の戦後復興の象徴としてぴったりだと考えた。現在、姫だるまは竹田市在住の後藤家によりオーダーメイドで作られている。新事業の成功を祈願して贈られることが多い。
Hime Daruma
Visitors walking around Taketa are bound to notice gently smiling red and white dolls in shops, restaurants, and even Bungo-Taketa Station. These Hime Daruma dolls are unique to Taketa and have become a distinctive part of the city’s culture. Daruma dolls, considered talismans for good luck, are common throughout Japan. Most of these dolls are male, whereas the Hime Daruma are female. They date back to the Edo period (1603–1867) and were traditionally tossed into houses to celebrate New Year.
Hime Daruma have a rounded and weighted base that enables them to always right themselves when pushed over. For this reason, they were formerly called okiagari (“stand-up”) dolls, which was also what people would shout when the dolls were flung into homes. They symbolize the belief that a person can always get up after a failure, and Hime Daruma embodied both family happiness and prosperity in business.
Hime Daruma fell out of fashion in the first half of the 1900s but were revived in the 1950s by a local resident named Goto Tsuneto, who thought the resolute dolls would be the perfect symbol for Japan’s recovery from the destruction of World War II. Today, the dolls are made to order by the Goto family, who still reside in the city. Hime Daruma are often given as gifts to new businesses to wish them success.
