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I found some old artwork with the old fashioned way of making teru teru bōzu that I wanted to share.

Here you'll find one under the eaves of the house, upside down, on a rainy day.

This one is hung right side up and very kimono-looking. It looks more modern, because it is.

The above is from a 1933 textbook for elementary school-aged children. It's a story about a boy who hangs up a teru teru bōzu and sings the song. 

(Man, katakana drives me nuts. Utaimashita = ウタヒマシタ.)

Of course, Utagawa Kuniyoshi makes them darling. And alive!

Another upside down one.

Toiyama Sekien's (probably the oldest version) take calling it a Hiyori Bō (Sunny Monk). It was only to be seen on sunny days, not rainy ones. So, again, feels different than the Chinese tale of the young girl who was sacrificed so she could go sweep away the rain (mentioned in the podcast). 

And finally, this was the only image I could find of the cut in half and upside down kind.

 

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Comments

Andy McLellan

I just listened to the podcast and loved this idea! I have never heard of teru teru bōzu before! The way the pictures look, is there some kind of wooden cross underneath that the 'kimono' hangs on, with the horizontal piece representing the arms?

Uncanny Japan -- Thersa Matsuura

It looks like it doesn't it? I had a friend who used to take old kimono and cut them up and make little breadbox-sized kimono to display in your foyer or house or wherever. She used a stand that was like a cross to hang them on so that the design on the sleeves looked nice. It looked similar to this. It makes sense that there would have to be something for it to keep its shape. Couldn't find a lot on making the old fashioned ones. Good catch!