Japan's 'crying baby sumo' festival returns after pandemic
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What is 'crying sumo' ritual?
Dozens of bawling Japanese babies faced off in a traditional 'crying sumo' ritual believed to bring the infants good health, which returned for the first time in four years after the pandemic.
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Sumo aprons
Pairs of toddlers wearing ceremonial sumo aprons were held up by their parents and faced each other in the sumo ring at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo.
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Who is declared a winner?
Staff wearing 'oni' demon masks tried to make the babies cry, with the first to bawl declared the winner by a sumo referee in an elaborate traditional uniform holding a wooden fan used to signal victory.
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Location
The 'crying sumo' is held at shrines and temples nationwide, to the delight of parents and onlookers.
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Event
A total of 64 babies participated in the ritual, according to the organiser.
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Rules
The rules vary from region to region. In some places parents want their offspring to be the first to cry, in others the first to weep is the loser.