SUN AND RAIN PRAYER DOLLS IN JAPANESE

1. Learn about Japanese rain-praying dolls

Japanese rain dolls, also known as “teru teru bozu”, are traditional dolls in Japanese culture that express wishes for the weather. These dolls are made from familiar materials such as pieces of cloth or paper, ribbons and crayons to draw the doll’s face.

Teru teru Bouzu (てるてる坊主) not only pray for rain but also for sunshine, so they are also called weather dolls. They became popular during the Edo period, when children made dolls and hung them in front of their windows to pray for the weather the next day to be as they wished. If there was a camping trip or a workshop tomorrow, they would hang the dolls to pray for sunny weather. If there was a test tomorrow, they would hang the dolls upside down to pray for heavy rain and not being able to go outside. People often hung the dolls by windows or eaves facing south where they could clearly see the sun.

“Teru” is a Japanese verb for sunlight and “bozu” is a monk or in modern slang, bald head. The name also comes from some really sad stories that you will hear below.

2. How to make Japanese Rain Doll

If you are a big fan of the unique Japanese culture or like to make small handmade items, you can make this Japanese rain doll out of fabric or paper with extremely simple steps.

Step 1: Make the doll's head. Roll cotton or tissue paper to make the head and secure it with tape. 

Step 2: Place the cotton that will be the head in the middle of the tissue, poke the needle into the middle of the tissue and thread the thread.

Step 3: Wrap the elastic around your neck. Wrap a ribbon around your neck to make it cuter.

Step 4: Draw a magic face if you like.

Note: If you are hanging the string around your neck, it may turn upside down even if you are very careful. In this case, thread a double needle from the neck, pull it out from the top of the head and redo the hanging part at the top of the head.

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