The Crying Game.
April 30, 2007 7:48 PM   Subscribe

The Crying Game. The Japanese proverb Naku ko wa sodatsu says that "A crying child thrives." During the annual Konaki Sumo ("Crying Sumo") festival held at certain temples in Japan, babies are held facing each other and encouraged to cry by priests and sumo wrestlers. The one who bawls first, or loudest, is the winner, thought to be blessed by the gods with good health.
posted by gottabefunky (29 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Great.
Meet my 8-month-old son, Hiro-Fucking-Hito.
posted by Dizzy at 7:54 PM on April 30, 2007


Man, other cultures are so weird.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:09 PM on April 30, 2007


Just when I thought Japan couldn't get more messed up.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:14 PM on April 30, 2007


Kids say the darndest things...
posted by taosbat at 8:28 PM on April 30, 2007


As a baby, my parents used to make me cry for fun. I have this on video. I could have been a winner.
posted by inconsequentialist at 8:30 PM on April 30, 2007


I wish there would have been a prize for crying back when my kids were babies... I would have felt so much more confident about myself as a mother.
posted by amyms at 8:31 PM on April 30, 2007


I can see where this would come about. Sick kids don't cry long and loud - they whimper, grizzle or don't make much noise at all. So while loud crying drives mom up the wall, it is a rough indicator of health.
posted by Zinger at 8:50 PM on April 30, 2007 [1 favorite]


Ha ha, fucking kids.

/another night of refereeing toddlers ....
posted by kenlayne at 9:12 PM on April 30, 2007


I might cry too if I were helpless, dressed is a mocking Superman outfit and grasped by my armpits by an enormous sumo wrestler.
posted by longsleeves at 9:23 PM on April 30, 2007


My kid is totally going to take all your kids at this.
posted by Artw at 9:23 PM on April 30, 2007


New bumper sticker in Japan: My Kid Can OUTCRY Your Kid!
posted by amyms at 9:29 PM on April 30, 2007


In England, we give them a few more years before getting them stuck in.
posted by Abiezer at 9:51 PM on April 30, 2007


um... OK?
posted by Grod at 9:54 PM on April 30, 2007


Just when I thought Japan couldn't get more messed up.

Heh heh! Hey man, Japan can always get more messed up!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 11:02 PM on April 30, 2007


That is no bullshit, hands down, the Goddamndest thing I ever saw.
posted by Benjamin Nushmutt at 11:13 PM on April 30, 2007 [1 favorite]


You know what else makes little 'uns shriek their widdle heads off, every goddamn time?!

The announcement "Arm doors and cross-check."
posted by rob511 at 11:37 PM on April 30, 2007


I'd cheat and give my baby natto. That oughta do the trick.
posted by DenOfSizer at 3:23 AM on May 1, 2007


I'd cheat and give my baby natto. That oughta do the trick.

Well, you never know, DenOfSizer. My little girl's been a big natto fan since babyhood.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:48 AM on May 1, 2007


Abiezer - that has to be the most Chavtacular link in History. Jesus!
posted by chuckdarwin at 4:39 AM on May 1, 2007


Poseurs. If you're going to cheat, give your kid wasabi.
posted by Firas at 5:07 AM on May 1, 2007


chuck - yep, I'm not usually one for despairing at the world, but that gave me pause.
posted by Abiezer at 7:00 AM on May 1, 2007


flapjax at midnite writes "My little girl's been a big natto fan since babyhood."

Mine too. Minibugbread is 14 months old, started solid-ish food when he was 7 months old, and started natto around 8 or 9, and he loves it.

Even if I work night-shifts, and thus away at night and asleep during the day, I can tell when my wife fed him natto because of how horrendous his poo smells.
posted by Bugbread at 7:02 AM on May 1, 2007


But my kid would have Swept. The. Floor at that competition. I've rarely seen a kid get scared so easily and cry so quickly.
posted by Bugbread at 7:04 AM on May 1, 2007


Is this the competition where you think that all the babies are girls, and then it turns out that they are boys, but you still think that they are pretty hot anyway?
posted by Kwine at 7:08 AM on May 1, 2007


Wow, Abiezer.

Kudos to the dad for actually taking it to the authorities. Shame that the sentencing is harsher for making dogs fight each other than making toddlers fight each other.
posted by Bugbread at 7:11 AM on May 1, 2007


I nver want to attend this event! Good God! Aaah!
posted by petersn1 at 8:06 AM on May 1, 2007


I bet they sell condoms in the lobby leading out of the festival grounds...
posted by slimepuppy at 2:24 PM on May 1, 2007


Slimepuppy, petersn1: Kids crying sucks when its somewhere where you're doing something else (at work, in a movie theatre), where you want quiet (in a park, in an aeroplane), or when it's your own kid (for some reason, it always seems way louder when its your own). But in a situation where kid crying is expected, and the kid is really little (under 1 year old), it can actually be cute. I say this from the standpoint of visiting friends with little tiny kids: they're cute when they cry.

Now, making them cry is kinda sucky behaviour, and kids 2 and over crying sucks because it lasts so long and its so damn loud. But you'd be surprised: when kids cry at events like this, it's not really the kind of thing that makes you want to go out and get a vasectomy.
posted by Bugbread at 4:26 PM on May 1, 2007


...it's not really the kind of thing that makes you want to go out and get a vasectomy.

Whether or not it should be...
posted by taosbat at 5:11 PM on May 1, 2007


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