Zen Craftworks Launches Experiential Souvenir 'Zen Craft Kit │ Takasaki Daruma Standard' for Inbound Tourists

Zen Craftworks, a brand operated by DaiLY UP Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo) that delivers Japanese traditional crafts as experiential kits, has launched the 'Zen Craft Kit │ Takasaki Daruma Standard,' allowing users to experience the painting of the traditional Takasaki Daruma from Gunma Prefecture, in a package designed for retail visibility and portability for travelers.

This product is an art experience kit where users can add their own colors and patterns to a plain white Daruma doll shaped by craftsmen. The package design is inspired by traditional Japanese rice bags. It serves as a souvenir that allows inbound tourists to bring back the culture they encountered in Japan as an 'experience they complete with their own hands' at home or at their destination.

Sales of this product began in May 2026 at CHOOSEBASE SHIBUYA (Seibu Shibuya Store, 1st floor). The brand is also scheduled to exhibit at 'Interior Lifestyle 2026' from June 10 (Wed) to 12 (Fri), 2026, where they will set up a booth for visitors to experience parts of the kit alongside product displays.

Making souvenirs an 'experience' that carries travel memories

For inbound tourists, bringing home memories of the culture and lands they encountered is one of the joys of travel. Zen Craftworks believes that, beyond just viewing or purchasing crafts, the time spent working with one's own hands to complete a piece is an important experience for engaging with Japanese culture.

'Zen Craft Kit │ Takasaki Daruma Standard' is an experiential souvenir that allows users to decorate a traditional Takasaki Daruma with their own colors and patterns.

By re-experiencing the Japanese culture they encountered during their travels at home or their destination and completing it into something unique, the packaging is designed to be easily accessible at storefronts as a 'portable experience.'

Inspired by traditional Japanese rice bags, the packaging aims for a look that reflects Japanese daily life while considering ease of transport. It is designed to be easily proposed to inbound customers as a product that delivers a series of moments—learning, working, and placing it in their lives—rather than just a finished product.

In recent years, the number of inbound foreign tourists and travel spending has been expanding. According to the Japan Tourism Agency's Survey on Inbound Consumption, travel spending by foreign visitors to Japan hit a record high of 9.4549 trillion yen in 2025.

Additionally, there is growing interest in spending time during travel engaging with local culture beyond just shopping and dining. For traditional crafts, more travelers are finding value in knowing the background of production and having the experience of participating with their own hands, rather than just purchasing finished goods.

Zen Craftworks has reconfigured Japanese traditional crafts as experiential souvenirs where one can 'complete it with one's own hands and take it home,' rather than just 'viewing' or 'buying' them.

About 'Zen Craft Kit │ Takasaki Daruma Standard'

'Zen Craft Kit │ Takasaki Daruma Standard' is an all-in-one kit that allows users to experience the painting of a Takasaki Daruma doll at home or while traveling.

The kit includes a plain white Daruma doll, crafted one by one, along with a full set of tools needed for painting. Through the included guide and video content, users can learn about the history and production steps of the Daruma while completing their own unique doll.

The estimated production time is about 3 hours. There is no set correct way to choose colors or draw patterns, and the kit is designed to allow individuals to overlay their own sensibilities on the foundation of the traditional Daruma shape.

Completed Daruma dolls can be taken home as travel memories and also serve as a reminder of the time spent working and the culture experienced in Japan when placed in daily life.

Sturdy, portable packaging inspired by rice bags

The Standard package is inspired by traditional Japanese rice bags. These bags have long been familiar in Japanese life. While incorporating this simple and practical look, it has been refined into a shape that is easy to pick up at stores and carry from travel destinations.

The package design also incorporates the joy of freely coloring the Daruma and the breadth of experiences where each finished piece is different.

Instead of presenting a single finished correct answer, users can add their own colors to the blank white Daruma. We aimed for a design that allows the 'History as a canvas, your own colors' experience that Zen Craftworks values to be felt from the packaging itself.