A is a small traditional handmade doll hung outside doors and windows in Japan in hope of sunny weather. Made from

tissue paper Tissue paper, or simply tissue, is a lightweight paper or light crêpe paper. Tissue can be made from recycled pulp (paper), paper pulp on a paper machine. Tissue paper is very versatile, and different kinds are made to best serve these purposes ...

cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is n ...

, ''teru teru bōzu'' charms are usually white,

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

-like figures with strings tied around their necks. The words meaning 'to shine' and referring to a Buddhist monk, the doll is said to represent a monk's bald head, which would shine during sunny weather. The doll therefore calls to a monk's magical powers to stop or prevent rain. Traditionally, if the weather does turn out well, a

libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...

of holy

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

is poured over them, and they are washed away in the river. In particular, ''teru teru bōzu'' charms are popular among Japanese children, who are introduced to the charms in kindergarten or daycare through a famous ''warabe uta'' (nursery rhyme) released in 1921. The song calls ''teru teru bōzu'' to bring back the sunny days, promising lots of

if the wish is fulfilled, but

decapitation Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

if not. The nursery rhyme is usually sung by children as they make the doll. ''Teru teru bōzu'' became popular during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

among urban dwellers, whose children would make them the day before the good weather was desired and chant, "Fine-weather priest, please let the weather be good tomorrow."

History

The tradition of weather-watchers and a rich folk culture of can be traced with certainty to the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

(749–1185) continuing through the

(1603–1867). ''Teru teru bōzu'' weather-watching practice tradition originated and was adapted from a Chinese practice during the Heian period. The practice, called '' Saoqing Niang'' () in China, involved putting the ''teru teru bōzu'' on the end of a broom to sweep good spirits your way, and rather than ''bōzu'' being a monk, but a young girl with a broom.''O-Lex Japanese–English Dictionary'', Obunsha, 2008. pp. 1681—2. As the story unfolds, a girl was sacrificed to save the city during a heavy rainfall by ascending symbolically to the heavens and sweeping rain clouds from the sky. Since then, the people have commemorated her by making paper cutouts of her and hanging them outdoors in the hopes of good weather. ''Teru teru bōzu'' as a Japanese practice seems to have originated from the similarity between

origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a ...

dolls and names described in the literature in the middle of the Edo period. A reference to ''teru teru bōzu'' is written in ''Kiyū Shōran'' by Nobuyo Kitamura, a scholar of Japanese classical literature in 1830. It is written, "If the weather becomes fine, I write my pupils on the paper, offer ''sake'' to the gods, and pour it into the river."

References

External links

*
Tracking down the origins of the teru teru bozu (てるてる坊主) sunshine doll tradition

What are Teruteru Bōzu?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teru teru bozu Japanese folklore Japanese dolls Amulets Talismans Buddhist religious objects Religious objects Shinto religious objects Superstitions of Japan Japanese words and phrases

History

See also

References

External links