Inside the Nakizumo Crying Baby Festival: Bizarre 400-year-old event where staff in demon masks try to make competing babies cry
The sound of a baby crying is the last thing new parents (and anyone sitting next to them) wants to hear.
But at a 400-year-old Japanese festival, that’s exactly what the goal is.
The Nakizumo Crying Baby Festival is as bizarre as it sounds: it celebrates the belief that crying babies will bring good health and fortune to the young in the future, and ward off any evil spirits or demons.
One day a year, crying babies compete against each other, held in the arms of sumo wrestlers. The winner is usually the first baby to cry in the ‘crying sumo’ ring.
Wearing their little sumo belts and aprons, more than 100 little ones will face each other in a ring where huge sumo wrestlers hold them and do their best to make them burst into tears.
The Nakizumo Crying Baby Festival is as bizarre as the name sounds: it celebrates the belief that crying babies will bring good health and fortune to the young in the future, as well as ward off evil spirits or demons
One day a year, crying babies compete against each other, held in the arms of sumo wrestlers. The winner is usually the first baby to cry in the ‘crying sumo’ ring
Their parents go to different dohyos in Japan and the babies compete against each other, two at a time.
The babies are held up by the sumo wrestlers who try to make them shed a tear by taunting them.
They gently try to get a response from the babies, using a range of funny techniques, including growling.
However, sometimes the young people are not impressed, or often even burst out laughing. If they don’t cry within a few seconds, the referee, dressed in a nice robe, intervenes.
The referee has to go the extra mile to try to scare the young babies by wearing traditional scary masks or by making faces and loud noises that make them cry.
The festival is held throughout Japan, with rules varying from region to region. In some regions, the baby who cries first is considered the loser. In other regions, it’s all about which baby cries the loudest and the quieter one loses.
It may seem cruel to outsiders, but the ceremony is said to protect the babies from evil forces and bring them good luck.
A saying associated with the festival is ‘naku ko wa sodatsu’, which means ‘crying babies will grow up soon’.
Wearing their little sumo belts and aprons, more than 100 little ones will face each other in a ring where huge sumo wrestlers hold them and do their best to make them burst into tears.
The sumo wrestlers gently try to get a reaction from the babies, using a range of funny techniques including growling
A saying associated with the festival is ‘naku ko wa sodatsu’, which means ‘crying babies will grow up soon’.
However, sometimes the young people are not impressed, or often even burst out laughing. If they don’t cry within a few seconds, the referee, dressed in a nice robe, intervenes
The festival is held throughout Japan, with rules varying from region to region. In some regions, the baby who cries first is considered the loser. In other regions, it’s all about which baby cries the loudest, with the quieter one losing.
Although the largest event is held at Asakusa’s Sensoji, it also takes place in several other places around Japan
It may seem cruel to outsiders, but the ceremony is said to protect the babies from evil forces and bring them good luck.
Japanese legend states that a baby’s loud cry will ward off evil spirits and ensure that the child grows up healthy and strong.
Although the largest event is held at Asakusa’s Sensoji, it also takes place in several other places around Japan.
The Asakusa event is so popular that parents can secure one of the 100 coveted spots through a lottery system.
It is a privilege to give your baby the opportunity to compete because tears promote good health.
The babies are held aloft so that their cries come closer to heaven and during the 400-year competition their parents pray for the good health of their children.
This year’s event will take place this weekend on April 28 and the venue will be filled with parents, babies, relatives, Japanese spectators and tourists from around the world who show up to observe the event.
Admission to the popular festival is free and there are two rounds, the first at 11:10 am and the second at 2:20 pm, behind the main Sensoji building.