Nakizumo at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, is held on the fourth Sunday in April every year between 12.30pm and 3.00pm.Sumo wrestlers make babies cry, on purpose. But it's only one day a year and it's with parental permission.The occasion was the centuries-old Nakizumo (literally "crying sumo"), a popular festival held annually around Japan.
This year 100 babies born in 2009 battled it out at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, to see who could be traumatized first by the amateur sumo wrestlers. The day began with speeches and an introduction to each baby. Mothers carried their infants, some in colorful little costumes, others with creative hairstyles (including one mini Mohawk), up onto the raised open-air sumo ring.
Then, the competition began in earnest, to the delight of the assembled crowd of curious foreigners and doting parents and grandparents. Expensive telephoto lenses pointed en masse at the stage; shutters clicked away frantically. Two babies being held and harassed by the sumos faced off at a time, with the first to cry -- or if both cried, the one who did so loudest -- being the victor.
Legend has it that a loud and powerful cry will ward off evil spirits and ensure the baby will grow up strong and healthy. Judging by their reactions, some of the babies in this year’s competition were not at all worried about evil spirits. Some slept and others laughed, resisting all provocation by the sumos, the judge, and the foremen who came in from the corner of the ring brandishing fright masks, yelling “Naki! Naki! Naki!” (Cry! Cry! Cry!)
trying to make an uncooperative baby cry
Papparazzi
Traumatized babyKindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)
No comments:
Post a Comment