grace
Normally efforts are made to make a baby stop crying but at this festival- usually held in April – parents bring their babies where sumo wrestles are given the responsibility to make their babies cry.
They either use a mask or use words to frighten the baby. It is a belief if a baby cries then the demons run away. The louder the baby cries the better it is and that baby wins the contest.
A look at those wrestlers should be enough I suppose for a baby to cry but it seems that does not work.
This link has more:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/naki-sumo-baby-crying-contest
Image credit:
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Would you trust your baby with a sumo wrestler?
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Yes
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No
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Sheesh, nope, not something I would like to see.
As I have commented elsewhere educated parents of today still believe in this.
It is, to put it mildly, a very strange tradition
It is strange that parents in today’s world still believe in this
I mark it as madness …………
It sure is but still it is going on
It’s an interesting contest. It won’t work for every baby because not all babies are find of crying.
I am surprised that parents still believe in this
I am also surprised modern parents still believe.
Pardon me for saying but I think that is a silly contest.
But there are silly parents that believe in this (lol)
That seems like complete madness to me, dear Grace
I have to agree with you. Strangely this has been going on for years
This is obviously a tradition that some still adhere to
This is a crazy contes. I have no baby but If I did, no I would not be comfortable with this.
I too find it odd that there are parents who believe in this.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
Would you be comfortable with your baby with them?