In Bengaluru, it hasn’t rained for four months and the city has experienced its longest dry spell for the first time. Bengaluru is famous for its pleasant climate, but now it’s facing water shortages and high temperatures. To wish for a rainy day, what do you do in India?
Are you learning Japanese? Do you know what Japanese people do to wish for rainy days? Here, let me introduce one of the Japanese customs about weather.
In Japan, the rainy season is very humid and wet compared to India and typically lasts from the beginning of June to mid-July. During this season, children often make “Teru Teru Bozu”, a sunny doll which is made with a white cloth or tissue praying for a sunny day. They hang it on the leaves one day before the sports day or big events. When hanging it, they say “Teru Teru Bozu Teru Bozu, please make tomorrow a sunny day”. But if it is hung upside down, it turns into “Fure Fure Bozu”, a rainy doll. “Fure” is the imperative form of “Furu(降る·ふる)”. If we hang “Fure Fure Bozu” at home, we might have a rainy day soon in Bengaluru!!
Please remember that you can draw faces after the wish comes true!
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This is something new I learnt today. Perhaps thanks to few “fure fure bozu” dolls in Bangalore, we are finally witnessing some rain here after the long dry spell. Very interesting read !
Wow , interesting to know about Japanese culture ,I think the combination of natural factors makes wide range of weather in Japan. Saakura Nihongo resource centre is doing an wonderful job , by this platform we can learn different culture followed by Japanese and we feel happy because there culture is very similar to ours we also respect and follow traditions towards nature in a different way .
Very interesting beliefs indeed from the people who hail from a land which can boast of practitioners from a tradition which has stood the test of time. !