Hello, how are you doing these days?

Japan is in the middle of the rainy season. 

Have you ever heard of ‘梅雨(つゆ)‘ which means rainy season?

In Japan, 梅雨(つゆ) usually begins early June and continues to July.

This year, the Meteorological Agency announced that this 梅雨(つゆ) season had begun on May 16th. This is much earlier than average.

Rainy weather is not so bad, but when it continues on for so long, we get tired and our mood sinks.

So, what do we do to wish for sunny weather?

We make てるてる坊主(ぼうず) (teru-teru bozu).

てるてる坊主(ぼうず) is a paper doll. Japanese people make these paper dolls and hang them on a window or a door.

People say this custom comes from China, but there are various theories.

We can make it from any paper including tissue paper.

It’s super easy to make one.

***How to make teru-teru bozu***

You need two pieces of tissue paper, rubber bands, and colored pens of your choice.

(1) Crumple a piece of tissue paper into a ball.

(2) Cover the paper ball with another tissue paper.

(3) Tie a rubber band around the doll’s neck.

(4) Draw a face.

On our NILS campus, we see some teru-teru bozu in this tsuyu season. We posted a picture of one of them here. He is quite cute, isn’t he?

Hope this melancholy rainy season is over soon.

We just can’t wait till a hot, bright summer!