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This article has been created to participate in Kyon's contest, which I think is such a nice idea that even this lazy bastard of a monkey has gotten to work. Participate!
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eRepublikans, Plato, Halesios Vonte, welcome to the latest - and only - edition of International Japaphic.

Delete that. Plato, Halesios, get out of my face.

Alright, so, I hereby bring you one of the traditions of ye olde times of Japan that I hope I will get to witness one day: the Naki Sumo, or the festival of crying babies.


Not to be confused, although I thoroughly recommend this movie

It is very much possible that some of you have encountered peculiar photos of big sumo wrestlers holding upset babies in their flabby arms as you roam the random seas of the interwebs. They all belong to this marvel of a festival.

Naki Sumo takes place on Children's Day, May the 5th, at the end of the Golden Week - that one time in which the Japanese can and must officially enjoy holidays. Different Shinto shrines host it, but the best-known Naki Sumo Festival is held each year in Asakusa, Tokyo, at the Sensō-ji temple (which I thought was buddhist, but whatever).

The celebration itself is quite straightforward, not much is needed to make it happen. The ingredients for a Naki Sumo are:

- 2 sumo wrestlers. The uglier the better.
- 2 babies.
- 1 referee.
- 1 ugly mask.
Optional:
- Little kabuto helmets or similar for the babies. They can be taken home as souvenirs, or sold for monk food.


Of course, these things are always most enjoyable if you don your best traditional attire

Once all ingredients are collected, they are set on an outdoors sumo ring, where the wrestlers will try to make their babies cry as hard and loud as possible. If they fail their mission, the referee himself will give it a try with his scary demon mask. Some tactics used are shaking the baby (gently), chanting "Naki! Naki! Naki!" which means "Cry!" (gently!), making faces at him, or putting the baby upside down (I made this one up, but I would like to see if it works).

The biggest cry-baby wins! Simple as that.

There are, of course, variations to the event. At the Sensō-ji, sumo students hold the babies in their arms. When the babies begin to cry, they raise the babies higher in the air, which is believed to strengthen the blessing endowed on each crying child. At the Gokoku Shrine in Hiroshima, babies are dressed in kimono and seated facing one another on pillows while a sumo referee encourages the babies to cry. Some temples hold a lottery to choose the contestants, some ask for a fee, others accept foreign babies, and many require them to be between 6 and 18 months old.



Sadly, this is my only personal non-blurry picture of Sensō-ji. Thanks for the uploading tips, peeps!

The tradition dates back 400 years and is said to maintain a baby’s good health. A loud, healthy cry keeps the evil spirits away, according to the sadistic organizers.


I think we have a winner here

Sources:
Lol