Japan History and Culture

Crying Baby Sumo Contest (Konaki or Nakizumo, 子泣き相撲)

Crying Sumo (Konaki) or Sumo of tears (Nakizumo) is a popular annual Japanese contest for  babies that take place all over the country. The festival held on Sunday by sumo  wrestlers, the tiny winners are determined by who cries first. If both babies start crying at the same time the winner is the one who wails the loudest in the arms of sumo wrestlers. Japanese parents apparently believe the sumo-induced cries are beneficial, with the babies crying out as a prayer to the gods for good health. At the very least, it probably exercises the lungs.

Some babies reportedly refused to cooperate and stayed silent or even dared to laugh in the wrestlers’ faces. Or, at least, that wasthe case until the wrestlers resorted to slipping on their scary masks. The event is based on the ancient Japanese proverb that ‘crying babies grow fast’(naku ko wa sodatsu). It is thought that the louder the cry, the more the gods have blessed the child with strong and good health, are supposed to drive away evil spirits. is at least 400 years old.

Locations with Crying baby Sumo contests are the Sensoji temple,Tokyo, There are also contests at Ikiko shrine in Kanuma-ski, Tochigi, in September; Yamajioji temple in Shimotsu-cho, Wakayama, in October; and at Saikyoji temple, Hirado, in February.

Sacred straw festoon (Shimekazari, 玉飾り)

Shimekazari(標飾り)is one of New Year’s decorations, many house and companies   hang on the top of the house entrance or in the kitchen above the stove for block the invasion of bad luck or wards off evil spirits and welcome the gods (Shintoism God). Some even decorate the front of their cars with shimekazari after a car wash. These are made from sacred twisted straw rope hung with strips of white paper and pieces of straw ,shaped into one or more rings.

These consist of propitious decorations, most commonly an orange because orange (daidai is a small citrus)) sounds like “many generations”. It is a wish for fertility and lots of descendants, kelp (Konbu) sounds similar to the word, yorokobu (to be happy), a lobster, ferns with white-backed leaves, folding fan and attached to them. It has a modest and simple one. The lettering says daikichi, which means best luck, and that little cat is a manekineko. It is holding a golden coin in one paw and beckoning with the other. It is beckoning for more coins. each one of those decorations is significant, symbol of a prayer for longevity, academic success, prosperity and so on.