Teruteru Bōzu: Japan’s Dolls for Chasing the Rainclouds Away

Weather Charms

A teruteru bōzu is a small doll that is hung up in Japan as a prayer for fine weather. Traditionally they were made with cloth, but the simple versions made by young children today before field trips or sports days often use facial tissues and paper towels. For example, you can make a tissue into a ball to represent the head, wrap a paper towel around it, and secure it with a rubber band around the “neck” of the figure, which is generally hung next to a window the night before the day you want to be fair.

According to one weather website, some believe the doll’s face should only be drawn on if the following day is sunny, as wished for. (This makes it something like a Daruma figure, which only gets its second eye drawn in once a prayer has been answered.) In practice, however, it is common to draw the face before hanging the teruteru bōzu to make for a cuter doll. Historically, there was also the custom of pouring sake on the doll’s head if the prayer was successful, and setting it adrift on a river.

Data Sources

• How to Display a Teruteru Bōzu (Japanese) from WeatherNews
• Making a Teruteru Bōzu (Japanese) from Jalan

(Originally written in English. Banner image © Pixta.)