160 Babies Cry It Out In Japan S Naki Sumo Crying Baby Contest

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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1 of 17160 babies competed in the Naki Sumo Crying Baby Festival this past year.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 2 of 17Each baby is paired with a sumo wrestler.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 3 of 17A baby is held by a sumo wrestler during the Naki Sumo Baby Crying contest.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 4 of 17The 400-year-old traditional festival is believed to bring growth and good health to the infants. Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 5 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 6 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 7 of 17Babies participating in the Naki Sumo Festival compete to see which baby cries the longest, loudest, and first.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 8 of 17Crying babies are believed to ward off evil spirits. It is also a sign of growth and good health in Japanese culture.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 9 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 10 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 11 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 12 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 13 of 17Dueling babies are held aloft by sumo wrestlers.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 14 of 17The contest referee will try to goad the babies to cry using different techniques, including wearing scary masks.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 15 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 16 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images 17 of 17Like this gallery?Share it:

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400-Year-Old Japanese Festival Has Babies Compete To Cry The Loudest View Gallery

Each year, the peaceful air at Japan’s Sensoji Temple is disrupted by wails of crying infants.

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Indian Farmer Finds 800-Year-Old Lord Ganesh Statue — On The Eve Of Festival Honoring The Deity

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Indian Farmer Finds 800-Year-Old Lord Ganesh Statue — On The Eve Of Festival Honoring The Deity

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1 of 17160 babies competed in the Naki Sumo Crying Baby Festival this past year.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

2 of 17Each baby is paired with a sumo wrestler.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

3 of 17A baby is held by a sumo wrestler during the Naki Sumo Baby Crying contest.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

4 of 17The 400-year-old traditional festival is believed to bring growth and good health to the infants. Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

5 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

6 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

7 of 17Babies participating in the Naki Sumo Festival compete to see which baby cries the longest, loudest, and first.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

8 of 17Crying babies are believed to ward off evil spirits. It is also a sign of growth and good health in Japanese culture.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

9 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

10 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

11 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

12 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

13 of 17Dueling babies are held aloft by sumo wrestlers.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

14 of 17The contest referee will try to goad the babies to cry using different techniques, including wearing scary masks.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

15 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

16 of 17Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

17 of 17Like this gallery?Share it:

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400-Year-Old Japanese Festival Has Babies Compete To Cry The Loudest View Gallery

400-Year-Old Japanese Festival Has Babies Compete To Cry The Loudest

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Throngs of crowds gather at the temple grounds to watch babies compete against each other in the 400-year-old Nakizumo Crying Baby Festival — which is exactly what it sounds like. Each infant is paired with a sumo wrestler who is meant to make their baby cry before its opponent. Though somewhat disturbing a notion, the resulting image is a wholesome-looking one.

The unorthodox celebration started from the Japanese belief “naku ko wa sodatsu” which according to Japan Travel translates to “crying babies grow.” This is the cultural belief that babies who cry will grow up to be strong and healthy. What’s more, crying babies are also believed to ward off evil spirits.

The rules of the competition are pretty simple: the first to cry wins. The sumo referee is assigned the dreadful task of making the infants cry which can be done through a number of methods that are enough to induce the babies to tears without being completely cruel.

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 mask and startle the babies. The mask is usually of the bird demon tengu, which is one of the evil spirits believed to be drawn away by the sound of bawling babies. Meanwhile, the sumo wrestler gently jiggles the participating baby up and down in the air to help get the waterworks going.

Sometimes the sumo wrestlers will even pull faces at the babies, making the already funny competition feel even goofier.

If one of the babies starts crying first, that baby wins the duel. But if both babies start crying at the same time, then the one who cries the loudest and the hardest wins.

This year, more than 160 babies born in 2018 competed in the Nakizumo or Naki Sumo Crying Baby Festival.

The 2019 Naki Sumo Festival in Fukui Prefecture, Japan.

In fact, the contest is so popular among Japanese parents that they flock to submit their one-year-olds as a participant each year. Some contests become so full that parents have to go through a lottery system in order to have their child placed in the ring.

The 2019 Naki Sumo Festival in Fukui Prefecture, Japan.

While parents can find smaller versions of the Naki Sumo Crying Baby Festival in their neighborhood or town, the biggest contest is held every year at the Sensoji Temple located in the Asakusa district of downtown Tokyo. This old tradition garners people from all over the country both Japanese residents and tourists alike.

It might seem like a terrible experience to put a child through, but the purpose of the celebration is to ensure that the baby, or the best crier, will have a long, healthy life ahead. Not to mention that the image of husky sumo wrestlers trying to handle crying babies is a rather funny albeit peculiar sight.

It is unclear which baby came away with the champion crier title for the contest in Japan this year, but now that the contest is over, it looks like all of the babies have won.

Next up, read about the La Tomatina Festival, Spain’s bizarre tomato-throwing celebration. And then, discover the story of the Yulin Festival, China’s controversial dog-eating festival.

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.#

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.