How to Make a Japanese Cloth Doll

Most traditional Japanese dolls are made of wood or clay, but one of the few exceptions are teru teru bozu. They're very simple dolls made from tissue paper or cloth and hung outdoors to wish for sunny weather, or hung upside down to hope for rain. They're so well known in Japanese culture that most children also know a song that is sung about teru teru bozu.

Things You'll Need

• Two sheets of white tissue paper or cloth
• String or ribbon
• Pen or marker (optional)

Instructions

1. Crumple one piece of tissue paper or cloth into a ball and put it in the center of the other sheet.

2. Wrap the second sheet around the balled-up paper or cloth.

3. Tie a string or ribbon underneath the ball so that the excess cloth or paper hangs down, leaving a ball for the head. Make sure there's a long tail left from the string. Alternatively, you could use a rubber band to wrap underneath the head, but you'll still need something to tie the teru teru bozu to the ceiling.

4. Use a pen or marker to draw a face (optional).

5. Use the tail from the string to hang your teru-teru bozu outdoors somewhere.

References

• Japanese rain doll (teru teru bozu)
• Emily Teaches Us How to Make Teru Teru Bozu

Resources

• Japanese Dolls and Netsuke