TOKYO: More than 100 Japanese babies faced off Sunday in a traditional “crying sumo” ring, an annual ceremony believed to bring infants good health.
In the sumo ring at the precinct of the Kamegaike Hachimangu shrine in Sagamihara west of Tokyo, two hulking wrestlers held up toddlers wearing tiny sumo belts and aprons to try to make them bawl.
Wrestlers sometimes shake the babies gently to encourage tears.
“My boy was crying from the very beginning and I felt a little bad,” Tomoyo Watanabe, the mother of Zentaro, told AFP.
“But as I watched my baby crying, I was praying for him to grow up healthy and strong after this event.”
The “crying sumo” is held at shrines and temples nationwide, to the delight of parents and onlookers.
“The cries of babies are believed to drive out demons and protect the infants from troubles,” said priest Hiroyuki Negishi.
The ceremony is believed to date back more than 400 years.
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.
In the Sagamihara event, which has been running since 2011, the babies accompanied by parents and grandparents were first taken before a Shinto altar and purified by the priest.
Pairs of toddlers were then brought into the sumo ring — where most of them were bawling even before facing off against their rival.
Bawling babies face off in Japan’s ‘crying sumo’
Bawling babies face off in Japan’s ‘crying sumo’
Egypt’s grand museum begins live restoration of King Khufu’s ancient boat
- The 4,600-year-old boat was built during the reign of King Khufu, the pharaoh who also commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza
CAIRO: Egypt began a public live restoration of King Khufu’s ancient solar boat at the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum on Tuesday, more than 4,000 years after the vessel was first built.
Egyptian conservators used a small crane to carefully lift a fragile, decayed plank into the Solar Boats Museum hall — the first of 1,650 wooden pieces that make up the ceremonial boat of the Old Kingdom pharaoh.
The 4,600-year-old boat was built during the reign of King Khufu, the pharaoh who also commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza. The vessel was discovered in 1954 in a sealed pit near the pyramids, but its excavation did not begin until 2011 due to the fragile condition of the wood.
“You are witnessing today one of the most important restoration projects in the 21st century,” Egyptian Tourism Minister Sherif Fathy said.
“It is important for the museum, and it is important for humanity and the history and the heritage.”
The restoration will take place in full view of visitors to the Grand Egyptian Museum over the coming four years.
