The Naki Sumo or Nakizumo Crying Baby Festival celebrates the belief that crying babies bring good health and fortune to their futures as well as ward off evil spirits.
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Each twelvemonth , the peaceful air at Japan ’s Sensoji Temple is break up by wail of crying infants .
Throngs of bunch gain at the temple grounds to watch babies contend against each other in the 400 - year - oldNakizumo Crying Baby Festival — which is exactly what it sounds like . Each baby is paired with a sumo wrestler who is think of to make their child call out before its antagonist . Though somewhat disturbing a notion , the ensue image is a wholesome - looking one .
160 babies competed in the Naki Sumo Crying Baby Festival this past year.
The maverick celebration initiate from the Japanese feeling " naku ko wa sodatsu " which according toJapan Traveltranslates to " crying baby grow . " This is the cultural belief that baby who outcry will grow up to be strong and healthy . What ’s more , crying babies are also believed to ward off malign booze .
The formula of the contention are jolly simple : the first to blazon out win . The sumo reviewer is assign the terrible task of making the babe cry which can be done through a number of methods that are enough to induce the infant to tears without being wholly brutal .
One way is for the referee to goad the babies by chanting " naki naki " which translates to English as " Cry ! Cry ! " repeatedly into their faces .
Another trick is to put on a scary masquerade party and startle the baby . The mask is unremarkably of the bird demon tengu , which is one of the evil sprightliness believed to be drawn away by the sound of bawl babe . Meanwhile , the sumo wrestler gently jiggles the participating baby up and down in the air to help get the water company going .
Sometimes the sumo wrestlers will even pull fount at the babies , making the already funny challenger palpate even whacky .
If one of the babies starts crying first , that babe succeed the duel . But if both babies start shout out at the same sentence , then the one who cries the brassy and the hard wins .
This twelvemonth , more than160 babiesborn in 2018 competed in the Nakizumo or Naki Sumo Crying Baby Festival .
In fact , the contest is so democratic among Japanese parents that they flock to relegate their one - twelvemonth - olds as a participant each yr . Some competition become so full that parent have to go through a lottery system to have their shaver localise in the mob .
While parent can find smaller interpretation of the Naki Sumo Crying Baby Festival in their neighborhood or town , the big contest is held every year at the Sensoji Temple located in the Asakusa dominion of business district Tokyo . This previous tradition garners people from all over the country both Japanese residents and tourists alike .
It might seem like a fearful experience to put a child through , but the purpose of the festivity is to check that the child , or the best crier , will have a long , healthy life onward . Not to mention that the epitome of husky sumo wrestlers attempt to handle cry babe is a rather funny albeit peculiar sight .
It is unclear which baby come away with the champion crier title of respect for the contest in Japan this yr , but now that the contest is over , it attend like all of the infant have won .
Next up , take about theLa Tomatina Festival , Spain ’s freakish Lycopersicon esculentum - discombobulate festivity . And then , see the story of theYulin Festival , China ’s controversial domestic dog - eating festival .
