Tōtōmi Provinceとおとうみ

A folkloric figure tied to the coasts and estuaries of former Tōtōmi Province, said either to descend from a straw doll set adrift by the monk Gyōki or to have signaled drought-stricken farmers with the sound of waves. It appears as a small child or tiny doll, with no fixed features. Its role is to foretell weather by wave-sound, indicating the approach of rain and wind by direction and intensity, allowing fishers to judge whether to launch and farmers to plan their work. It overlaps with ideas of water and dolls, kappa tales, and accounts under the name umibōzu, yet all remain within a frame that reads sea-roar as folk knowledge. Rather than an object of worship, it is a personification of awe-inspiring natural signs, and offerings or rites vary by region. Records rely on local materials and oral tradition, with details often uncertain.