Naki Sumo, Crying Baby Contest, Held In Japan (PHOTOS)

Two sumo wrestlers stand facing each other. Each is holding a baby. They are playing a game - whoever can make their baby cry first wins.

It may sound bizarre, but this is the competition at the Naki Sumo festival, held at the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo earlier this month.

The event, held for over 400 years, is based on the concept that a long cry is good for the health of babies.

No physical pain is inflicted on the babies; the sumo wrestlers instead growl and scowl in order to get a wail. If both babies cry, whichever is loudest wins.

And if the babies don't cry, or, even worse, laugh? The wrestlers don masks.

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scarletxoxoxo said on 26 Monday 2010 pm30 4:40 pm: They should make more babies cry, Babies are jerks.

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Comments

[qthedancer]

07:56 AM on 04/27/2010

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Japan is bizarre.

[freethinking moderate]

09:24 AM on 04/27/2010

Wait till you see the fertility festival with a giant penis float and penis suckers and penis ice cream. I cannot wait till July 27th to get back!

[jubo]

05:42 AM on 04/27/2010

Brilliant. How does one come up with that?

[SB164]

05:22 AM on 04/27/2010

How many GOP members/Teabaggers entered this contest?

[Joe Bigg]

07:32 PM on 04/30/2010

Zero, Japan is not a fanatical christian stronghold, so for them, it's evil!!!

[Weathermaker]

02:38 AM on 04/27/2010

"The event, held for over 400 years, is based on the concept that a long cry is good for the health of babies. "

The Japanese can make a robot walk, talk and even carry a tray but apparently can't get rid of old, pointless superstitions. Go figure.

[AirViceMarshalPark]

02:27 AM on 04/27/2010

Just tell the baby that he has to wash that thing that the Sumo wrestlers wear.

[KataVideo]

01:19 AM on 04/27/2010

They're crying because the Sumo Association forced bad boy Yokozuna Asashoryu to resign. The remaining Yokozuna Hakuho is the Japanese equivalent of american cheese and miracle whip on wonder bread. He bland and boring.

[nikrah]

01:05 AM on 04/27/2010

Awe. Poor babies. These scary guys with diapers are holding us here til we cry??!! wtf!!

[Clare53]

10:34 PM on 04/26/2010

That was pretty stupid.

[Daniela Smith]

08:57 PM on 04/26/2010

I don't get it...but I could just squeeze those fat babies for days! They are so cute!!!

[SukiTheCat]

11:21 PM on 04/26/2010

totally, they are soo adorable!!

[LMPE]

07:37 PM on 04/26/2010

I think that the babies cry because they're getting manhandled by men who look like Rush Limbaugh

[shylove2]

07:23 PM on 04/26/2010

Cry, baby, cry!!

[jessicadevyn]

05:05 PM on 04/26/2010

I love Japanese culture. From this, to seppuku, to anime. It's all so freggin random.

[swingVote]

04:52 PM on 04/26/2010

Japanese have the most whacked-out competitions/game shows

[piul05]

06:27 PM on 04/26/2010

True. My best friend is Japanese and it's amazing how she and her Japanese family and friends go backs and forwards over the thin line between wackiness and conformity.

[Yves Papa]

04:51 PM on 04/26/2010

Actually, a baby will cry because (s)he is upset. This is about getting babies upset on purpose, and having fun about it.

There is nothing funny about that.

Chis is child abuse and exploitation for the pleasure of the spectators. One may think a crying baby is trivial. It is not. A crying baby is telling of something being wrong. What about we make an adult cry, then laugh at him(er)?

My daughter did cry once, and this is when the mother and I could not pull over fast enough to feed her (and she was way overdue). I did cross El Camino real in a fast quadruple lane change to enter a shopping center. A cop followed us but did not tag us when he saw why I did this unusual (but safe) maneuver.

[jessicadevyn]

05:11 PM on 04/26/2010

I'm sure the babies will be fine. They will probably be doing Algebra and Calculus before our babies anyway.

[liberallydemocrat]

06:35 PM on 04/26/2010

LOL!

Cough.

[brooklyncitizen]

08:09 PM on 04/26/2010

LOL
they may be on their way.

[SummerNite]

12:41 AM on 04/27/2010

dude...babies cry.

you crossed four lanes of a speedway to stop your baby from crying?

all emotions are ok. really, they are okay.

[Yves Papa]

03:19 AM on 04/27/2010

Not to stop her from crying, but for providing her what she needed.

[LDR1988]

04:50 PM on 04/26/2010

Oh no they didn't! That's terrible...terrible funny.