Tsuyu
Rainy Days

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© GoWithGuideTsuyu - The Rainy Season
Japan has four seasons just like the UK: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
However, Japan also has a rainy season, called tsuyu in Japanese. During thistime it rains . . . a lot! Tsuyu means ‘plum rain’ because plums are ripe andready for picking at this time of year.
Rainy season is expected across most of Japan from early June
until mid-July. It doesn’t necessarily rain every day, but when it
does it pours! Because it is summertime, rainy season feels hot
and humid and can be uncomfortable.

Enjoying Rainy Season
Although not everybody likes rainy days, there are things one can look forward
to during the rainy season!
What are your favourite things about rainy days?

Paddy fields – The rainy season is very important for farmers, because crops
need rain to grow and their animals need fresh grass to eat. Lots of water isneeded to grow the rice which Japanese people eat every day. During this timeof the year, you will find beautiful paddy fields in many areas in Japan.

How to say ‘Tsuyu’?
Tsuyu sounds likesaying ‘sue-you’ witha gentle ‘t’ sound atthe beginning
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Beautiful nature – Rainy days can be grey and dark, but bright hydrangea
flowers flourish during the rainy season. In Japanese, they are called ajisai.The
flowers look like pom-poms, can be blue, pink, or purple and make rainy season
less gloomy! You also have more chance of seeing colourful rainbows.

Photo by Taylor Smith

Photo by Kenshi Kingamit

What other brightly coloured flowers can you see in the summertime?

Spotting creatures – Rainy season can be a good time to spot little creaturesand insects. Both snails and frogs prefer wet, rainy days; snails like moisture andwill hide on hot sunny days so they don’t dry out. Frogs also love the rain as it
helps them stay cool and hydrated. Fireflies are insects which glow in the dark.
They don’t live for very long and rainy season is the only time they can be seen.

Photo by @yb_woodstock,
CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo by Dis da fi we, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photo by kimtetsu, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Photo by 江郎蔡, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Can you think of any other animals which like the rain or wet weather?

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Teru Teru Bozu Quiz
During rainy season in Japan, people make decorations called Teru Teru Bozu.
Circle your choice for each question. (Answers can be found on the kanji page.)
Q1. What do you think a teru teru bozu is?
a. A monk with a shaven head / b. A ghost / c. An angel
Q2. Why do you think people make teru teru bozu?
a. To pray for rain for crops / b. As a wish for sunshine / c. Just for fun
Q3. Who can make teru teru bozu?
a. Only people over 60 / b. Only boys / c. Anyone can make teru teru bozo

Photo by takuchucamerabu,
CC BY-NC 2.0

Photo by Rainbowhill,
CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photo by nodoca,
CC BY-NC 2.0

Teru teru bozu is designed to look like a smiling monk with a shaven head
and is hung up as a wish for sunshine, like a good luck charm. Traditionally,
the handmade doll is made out of white paper or cloth and hung outside thewindow by farmers to pray for good weather. It is believed that the doll has
special powers to stop or prevent a rainy day.
In Japan, you can often hear people, especially children, talking about making
the smiling monk to pray for sunshine before a planned trip, play day orgathering outside. ‘Teru’ means ‘shine’ and ‘bozu’ can be translated as ‘monk’or ‘shaven head’. So teru teru bozu can be literally translated as ‘shine shinemonk’.
If you’re looking forward to a picnic or a playing outside why don’t you try
making teru teru bozu to see if it works?

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Kanji Characters
In Japanese, the word for plum is ume and the kanji character for it is 梅. The Japaneseword for rain is ame and its kanji character is 雨. Together the two characters make up
the word for the rainy season.
Why not try writing them below? Follow the stroke order and trace each character,then practice writing them on your own.

梅雨梅雨
①④⑦

③

①

⑥

⑨

⑩tsu

⑧②

④

⑤⑦

⑥⑧③yu

Well done! Now you can practice writing the characters 夏, for ‘summer’ and 傘, for‘umbrella’.

夏夏
傘傘①②③ ⑤⑥⑦⑧④⑨⑩natsu①⑫②③④⑦⑧⑤⑥⑨ ⑩⑪kasa

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Teru Teru Bozu Quiz Answers: Q1, a; Q2, b; Q3, c.

⑤②

Origami Challenge: Jumping Frog!
You will need:••origami paper or square paper
pen or pencil

1. Fold in half to makea crease then unfold.

2. Fold in half.

5. Fold down then tuckin where the pink line is.

9. Fold down corners to makecrease lines then unfold.

3. Fold down tocrease line thenunfold.

6.
Fold up.

4. Fold down corners
to make crease lines
then unfold.

7. Fold in tomeet in centre.

10. Pull the inside cornersout (where the stars are).

8. Fold up.

11. Fold down in thecrease line.
16. Lastly,
draw the eyes
and finish.

14. Fold down.

12. Fold in thedotted line.

13. Fold up.
15. Flip
over.

press
here tomake itjump!

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Activity: Make a Teru Teru Bozu Doll!
You will need:•••some white squares of tissue paper
or cloth, or tissues
pen or marker pen
a small piece of string

1. Roll a few pieces of paper
together into a ball.

3. Shape to make it look like a little
ghost from Halloween.

2. Place the rolled up paper from step 1
on another white squared paper or cloth
and wrap it as above.

4. Tie the string around its neck tomake a bow, then tie a loose piece atthe back so that you can hang it up.

6. Done!

5. Finally, draw a happy face on the doll.

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© The Japan Society (2021) | www.japansociety.org.uk | education@japansociety.org.uk
The Japan Society | Education Resources | education@japansociety.org.uk | www.japansociety.org.uk