What would you do when you see a small baby crying? Well, the answer would be quite obvious, you would try to pamper him and cuddle him and see that he stops.

Would you believe me if I told you that in Japan, babies are made to cry loudly in front of hundreds of spectators? But don’t think that this is an everyday affair. This happens only on the second Saturday of October every year. When the annual Nakizumo festival is held in Japan.

‘Nakizumo’ or ‘crying sumo’ is an event which is held at the Yamajioji shrine in Kainan, a small town in Wakayama. The competitors, only babies, are made to cry in a sumo wrestling ring and the loudest crier essentially wins the match, but everyone receives a prize for participation. According to the rules only children from the age group of 4-5 months upto 3 years are allowed to participate.

It is believed that babies who touch the dirt in the ring are blessed with good health and good luck as they grow. Two sumo club members dressed in traditional garb choose two babies from the crowd surrounding the ring and the babies are brought into the ring.

The crowd comprises of parents, grandparents and many small competitors. The men hold the babies high up to a crescendo of applause. They try their best to make the contestants cry by making scary faces, putting masks of monsters or raising them higher.

They even gently push the little ones on top of each other, mimicking the moves of a sumo wrestler. Each match lasts for just a few seconds and the baby that wails the loudest of all wins the tournament and is thus assured of a long and healthy life.

According to a Japanese proverb, ‘the more babies cry, the healthier they grow up’. After the match is over, the babies are re-united with their proud parents. There are different matches for different age groups. This extraordinary ritual has a history of at least 400 years and is believed to have originated as a service to honour a child priest who lived at the Senso-ji temple (the oldest Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Japan) long ago.