In May 2024, residents of the Phayuha Khiri district, in Thailand’s Nakhon Sawan province, carried in procession a cage decorated with yellow garlands. Inside was a Doraemon plushie. No one splashed it with water out of cruelty: that’s exactly what the ritual is.
‘Hae Nang Meaw’—the cat procession—is a centuries-old tradition in Thailand. The practice consists of parading a caged cat through the town while neighbors drench it with water; it is believed that the meows of the soaked feline summon the rain. But the organizers, after months without rainfall and temperatures nearing 41°C, made a compassionate decision: instead of subjecting a real animal to the ritual, they used a plushie of the most famous robotic cat in Japanese anime. The reason was simple and straightforward: they couldn’t find a more realistic cat doll and didn’t want to mistreat any animal.
What no one expected was that it would work. After the procession, it rained. It wasn’t the first time: on previous occasions when Doraemon took part in the ritual, the rains came as well. The character even has a shrine dedicated to him in Bangkok where Thais go to ask for good fortune. The ancient tradition had apparently found its perfect cat.
