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Written by Eric Carroll
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Spring can be a most welcome, yet frustrating time of year. The temperature is rising, the sakura (cherry blossoms) are blooming, and still, many of our much-anticipated outdoor plans are only too often spoiled by rain. What can we do to defend our spring days against the lingering threat of rain and cold? Japan has an answer.
Teru teru bozu are charmed ghosts made of either white cloth or tissues stuffed with cotton or other soft material, tied off with string to form a head, and hung from one’s home or window to keep rainy days at bay. They can be likened most closely in the U.S. to little Halloween ghosts. Teru means “good weather”, and bozu means “monk, priest or boy”, and is also currently used as Japanese slang for “bald-headed”.
The practice of hanging teru teru bozu began in Japan long ago, in the Heian Period (749-1185). The practice came from China, where people would put the teru bozu on the end of their brooms to sweep friendly spirits toward them. The practice has practically completely left China, and for ages has been almost exclusively Japanese. Early on, Japanese farmers would hang teru bozu around their house as a wish for good weather for their crops. Now, people hang them the day before their outdoor plans to try to ward off rain. Actually, if one has an outdoor plan they don’t want to attend, they can hang teru bozu upside down to encourage rain.
The origins of the practice aren’t clear. One version of the story (the darker version) stems from China, where, at a time of great rains, a Buddhist monk had promised a village a cessation of the rain. After performing his rituals, the rains continued. Outraged by this, the villagers tracked down the monk, and beheaded him. This point of view is supported by the kid’s song that accompanies teru bozu, in which the third verse says:
“Teru teru bozu, teru bozu
Do make tomorrow a sunny day,
But if it’s cloudy and you’re crying…
Then I shall chop your head off.”
Many Japanese folk historians believe that many of the teru teru bozu origins stories developed long after the practice became widespread. Many insist that the name comes from the shape for the ghost’s head, which resembles a bald monk, and that “teru teru bozu” jokingly refers to the reflection of sunlight on a bald head.
What is more important than it’s origins, is how one treats teru bozu after he’s performed, or hasn’t performed, his duties. If the weather on the day of your plans is what you had asked, one is supposed to drench teru bozu’s head in sake, and float him down the nearest river as a sign of purification. Though, if teru bozu allows weather contradictory to your plans, one should “dispose of it along with your burnable rubbish on the relevant day”.
Sources:
http://www.nia.or.jp/english/jyouhou/img/BEAT_APRI_2007.pdf
http://www.nomadichu.com/2008/07/teru-teru-bozu.html
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