No one likes a crying baby, right? Babies + crying = bad. That is a universal equation, regardless of whether you are a parent or not. Try getting through a 13-hour flight with a wailing baby next to you. 

Except, of course, not in Japan. 

I present you: The Naki Sumo Crying Baby Festival. 

As if sumo wrestling is itself not already quite a specific and peculiar Japanese thing, there is additionally this unique festival ritual that has apparently been around for 400 years (!!!). To quote Wikipedia, it is an "annual Japanese festival in which babies are held in the arms of sumo wrestlers in an open-air sumo ring. Two babies compete in a short match in which the first child to cry is proclaimed the winner." There is just so much to unpack in those two sentences. 

To be clear, there are some deeply cultural beliefs that underpin this festival: Like the belief that the loud cry of an innocent baby can ward off demons and evil spirits, as well as a Japanese proverb 泣く子は育つ, which means "crying babies will grow up fast". So, clearly there are important cultural reasons for this. And I am in no way mocking those cultural practices. 

But it also looks hilariously bizarre. Two sumos hold up babies, make funny faces, and sometimes even have to resort to scary demon masks to try to make the babies cry. It's charming and endearing, but oh-so-funny. 

What my niece sees when she looks at me. Probably. 

Stay weird, Japan. 

~ Desmond