Teru Teru Bozu: Difference between revisions

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[[File:teruterubozu 797.png|frame]]

A small, ghost-like doll that is traditionally used by Japanese people to prevent rain. The name literally means "shiny shiny Buddist monk" and it was originally designed to somewhat look like one - it very vaguely resembles a bald man. Children traditionally hang these in a window frame when they wanted the next day to have good weather.

They can also can be hung upside down if you want it to rain tomorrow. They date from the Edo period (1603-1868), when they first appeared in urban areas. They are still a fairly common sight in Japan today, especially in the homes of young children. Originally a simple chant of "Fine-weather priest, please let the weather be good tomorrow" has since evolved into a much longer and more elaborate [[Nursery Rhyme]]:

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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In [[Aphorism]] the kids hang the dolls upside down to make it rain, since rain prevents the Blight from occuring.

* In ''[[Yotsubato|Yotsuba&!]]'', there is one chapter where Yotsuba makes many of these (including one huge one) to prevent rain, so that she can go to the beach the next day.

* [[Choco Mimi|Mimi]] makes an upside-down one because she wants it to rain. There are also a few other chapters where the characters make Teru Teru Bozu.

* Plays a scarier-than-usual role in a ''[[~~Twentieth~~ Century Boys]]'' flashback.

* Plays a scarier-than-usual role in a ''[[20th Century Boys]]'' flashback.

* A girl in [[Urusei Yatsura]] is afraid of these dolls, and of Cherry, who vaguely resembles one.

* In ''[[Hidamari Sketch]]'', Miyako suggests making one during the rainy season so that Yuno can finally air out her winter futon and put it away, and then proceeds to make one out of the futon.

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** She also tries to act as one herself to stop a rainstorm, and when it doesn't work she comes close to going all the way and hanging herself by her tentacles.

* In ''[[Case Closed]]'', Ran and Kazuha make teru teru bozu in an attempt to chase away the rain, but Heiji sabotages their effort by turning them around so they faced inward.

* In ''[[Minami-ke]]'', Kana makes one of these ''out of her little sister Chiaki'' so that she'll be able to go to the beach. When it works (rather to everyone's surprise), Chiaki chastises the others for praying to her with "Don't worship me!".

* In ''[[Toradora!]]'', Ryuuji is seen hanging a home-made one out of cloth.

* In ''[[Kinnikuman Nisei]]'', the character known in English as "Dialbolic" is called "Tel Tel Boy" (''Teru Teru'' Boi) in the original Japanese. This foreshadows the fact that his weakness is water and he's defeated when it starts to rain.

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** Shuppet as well.

* ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] 7'': A minor enemy in Cloud Man's stage is designed after the Teru Teru Bozu, flipping upside down and summoning rain when shot. (If it's already raining, shooting it with the Freeze Cracker causes it to summon snow instead.)

* One of these is an item in ''[[Monster Rancher]] DS.'' It doesn't seem to actually affect the weather, but it ''does'' reduce your monster's stress in springtime.

* ''[[Boktai]]'' has both a right-side up and upside-down Teru Bozu, the first always giving you at least two bars of sunlight while and the second limiting you to one. In the English version they're called the "Mr. Rainnot" and "[[Sdrawkcab Name|Tonniar .Rm]]", respectively.

* The Stage 3 boss of ''[[Parodius]]''.

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[[Category:Japanese Media Tropes]]

[[Category:Useful Notes/Japan]]

[[Category:~~Teru Teru Bozu~~]]

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]