Weird darkness on sarado, is it normal?

[The Voidling]

I just bought a new kendama and when I took the tama off the ken, the place on the sarado where the tama lies on was black/dark. I was just wondering whether it is normal for this to happen as 1/4 of my friends who have Kendamas have this "darkness" on the top of the sarado,

(I have a picture for this but can someone teach me how to post pictures here )

[BKA]

Paint often rubs off from the tama at this spot. It's not unusual. There's a "how to post pictures" thread in the Technical/Help forum.

[The Voidling]

So.... Should this be something I should be disappointed about?

[Kev]

If you have the choice, don't choose to be disappointed, it'll make you feel bad!

Seriously though, not at all. It's completely normal and happenes often, some colours or paints more than others.

If it bugs you, play naturals, it never happenes on them.

Imperfections add character and create beauty in my view.

(There is an interesting Japanese concept called wabi-sabi, that in part embodies this, hard to explain but interesting to learn about, if you like that sort of thing).

Just have fun and enjoy playing your kendama, they all get worn in to the ground if you're doing it right