Drought-hit Thai farmers ditch real cats for Doraemon or Hello Kitty to summon rain in anti-animal cruelty move

Thai farmers use plush toys like Doraemon or Hello Kitty to summon rain in rituals to replace real cats to avoid distress. Photo: Weibo

• Old custom after dry spell sees real cats splashed with water to bring rain
• Flood of support as farmers switch to Japanese cartoon characters

Villagers in Thailand are using plush toy versions of the Japanese cartoon character Doraemon instead of live cats in rain-calling rituals amid a series of severe heatwaves.

The change to the tradition has attracted supportive and amused reactions from online observers in Japan and China.

On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, one person said that the Doraemon ritual let her see that we live in "a kind world".

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"They are seeking help from the right kind of cat, as Doraemon has all kinds of magical gadgets in his four-dimensional pocket," said another.

The world-famous Japanese manga and anime character was created in 1969 by the artist duo Fujiko Fujio. It is a blue robot cat sent to the past from the 22nd century to help a boy solve problems.

Some 200 villagers in Thailand's lower northern province of Nakhon Sawan held the ritual, known as hae nang maew, or "lady cat parade", at the end of April following a long dry spell.

The ceremony - which takes place ahead of the planting season and reportedly dates back centuries - previously incorporated black female cats that were carried around the village in a basket or cage.

Villagers would splash water on the cat so that it would cry and attract rainfall.

Amid rising concerns about animal abuse, some Thai villages switched to using cartoon characters, such as Doraemon and Hello Kitty, in 2015.

The head of one village, Phongphan Kerdkham, told the Thai media outlet Matichon Online that the parade had not been held for a decade, but resumed this year because the drought was so severe.

They said the ritual appeared to work rapidly when storms reportedly hit the province on May 2.

Rain-calling rituals are common in some other Asian countries.

In Japan, there is a tradition of having a doll, handmade from white paper or cloth, and wrapped around a small ball.

When it is hung upside down outside windows it is meant to attract rain. When it is hung right side up, it becomes the wider-known teru teru bozu, the prayer for good weather.

In China, there is a superstition that the Dragon King is the god of water and weather.

Temples have been built to worship him, and temple fairs are held every spring to please him so that he brings good weather during the planting season.

If the rain prayer turns out to be effective, some Chinese villages stage theatre plays to thank the Dragon King in autumn.

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

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