Althouse: "There is a 400 year old tradition in Japan to make babies cry."

June 15, 2013

"There is a 400 year old tradition in Japan to make babies cry."

"Every year mothers hand over their babies to sumo wrestlers who make them cry. Baby crying is considered healthy and a prerequisite for good luck. The winner of the contest is the sumo wrester who makes the baby cry faster, usually by scaring them...."

13 comments:

chickelit said...: This was also covered in Jonny Quest IIRC.; 6/15/13, 7:03 PM
Anonymous said...: Sadly, another cherished Japanese tradition is gone. There are no longer any vending machines dispensing schoolgirls' dirty underpants. Sorry.

Peter; 6/15/13, 7:09 PM
chickelit said...: Big cry baby Sumo wrestler; 6/15/13, 7:13 PM
edutcher said...: Just let the kid see them do that squat.; 6/15/13, 7:21 PM
rhhardin said...: Yet the Japanese have the same word for banana.; 6/15/13, 7:26 PM
SteveR said...: A skill I had unknowingly perfected by the time my first child was born.; 6/15/13, 7:26 PM
campy said...: When I was home with babies I never had to work to make them cry. I certainly never had to call in help for it.; 6/15/13, 8:04 PM
Robert J. said...: "When we are born, we cry that we are come onto this great stage of fools."; 6/15/13, 9:08 PM
madAsHell said...: I was spoiled. My first child came home, and always slept. Today, she has a good job.

My son was born with a hernia. He never slept well. I found the hernia while bathing him. Today, he's a fireman.

There's nothing wrong with being a fire-fighter. He wakes up in the middle of the night. He has experience.; 6/15/13, 9:18 PM
The Godfather said...: I tell my grandchildren about the IRS.; 6/15/13, 9:20 PM
Methadras said...: I weep for my as yet unborn grandchildren at what this motherfucking monkey of a president is doing to my country.; 6/15/13, 10:57 PM
Joe said...: I call bullshit on this. It's very likely one of those weird, isolated contests where people pretend it's some grand tradition, not just some stupid ceremonial crap.; 6/16/13, 12:33 PM
Mitch H. said...: Joe, I looked it up, it's affiliated with a temple outside of Tokyo that's associated with the sumo, er, tradition? culture? whatever. They also seem to be one of the temples that is involved with Setsubun. Maybe the monks are just really into big guys scaring children.

"Any bad children in here?!?"; 6/17/13, 5:34 AM